Golden  Binding  of  "The  Gospels  of  Charlemagne,"  with  Jewels.and 
Enamels,  Hth  or  12th  Century. 

[Froiitisyiece. 


iO ,. . 


THE    BOOK 

ITS    HISTORY   AND    DEVELOPMENT 


CYRIL    DAVENPORT,    V.D.    F.S.A. 


17  a  /  & 

ILLUSTRA'JED 


NEW    YORK 

D.  VAN   NOSTRAND    COMPANY 
23   MURRAY  AND  27  WARREN  STREETS 

1907 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  RECORDS. 

Eock  inscriptions — Marks  on  wood — Quipus — Wampum— Modern 
ideographs — Indian  palm -leaf  books — Ideographs  and  alphabets — 
Diptychs       .         . p.  I 

CHAPTER   II.  -^ 

ROLLS,    BOOKS   AXD   BOOKBIXDIXGS. 

Papyrus  and  vellum  rolls — Quaternions — The  sewing  of  books — Head- 
bands— The  rounding  and  backing  of  books — Mediaeval  books — 
Irish  cumdachs — Byzantine  bindings — Oriental  books — Modern 
methods  of  sewing  and  binding   .         .         .         .         .         .     p.  26 

CHAPTER  III. 

PAPER. 

Paper — Watermarks  and  quiring jj.  62    'f 

CHAPTER  lY. 

PRIXTIXG. 

Assyrian  bricks  with  printed  inscriptions — Oiron  ware — Chinese  types 
—  Block  books  —  Costeriana — -Tyjies  and  stereotypes  —  Printing 
presses  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .         •         .    p.  So 

CHAPTEEV. 

ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Wood  engraving — Line  engraving — Etching — Stipple — Mezzotint — 
Aquatint— Lithography— Photography      .         .         .         .    p.  102 


vi  TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

MISCELLANEA. 

Book  edges  and  their  decoration — Embroidered  books — Cloth  bindings 
— Account  books — End  papers — Small  metal-bound  books — Books 
bound  in  tortoiseshell — Chained  books — Horn  books         .      2'-  l^^^ 

CHAPTER  VII . 

LEATHERS. 

'      Vellum — Calf — Pig  skin — Sheep  skin — Goat  skin — Seal  skin,  etc. 

p.  169 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   ORNAMENTATION   OF    LEATHER   BOOKBINDINGS   WITHOUT   GOLD. 

Blind  tooling  and  stamping — Panel  stamps — Cut  leather — Stained  calf 
— Cut  vellum — Transparent  vellum    .         .         .         .         .     ^i.  ISl 

CHAPTER   IX. 

THE   ORNAMENTATION   OF   LEATHER   BOOKBINDINGS   WITH   GOLD. 

Gold  tooling  in  leather  introduced  from  the  East  to  Venice — Early 
Italian  gold  tooled  work — The  spread  of  gold  tooling  in  Earope — 
Modern  work — Gold  tooling  in  leather — Early  Venetian  gold 
tooled  bindings — The  work  of  Thos.  Berthelet,  John  Day,  John 
Gibson,  Marj'  Collet,  Samuel  Alearne,  Suckerman,  Eliot  and 
Chapman,  Roger  Payne,  Richard  Wier,  Charles  Hering,  Kalthoeber, 
Staggemeier,  Walther,  Charles  Lewis,  T.  J.  Cobden-Sanderson, 
Sir  Edw.  Sullivan,  Douglas  Cockerell,  E.  M.  MacColl,  S.  Prideaux, 
Adams,  Woolrich,  Etienne  Roffet,  Geoffrey  Tory,  Nicholas  and 
Clovis  Eve,  Le  Gascon,  Florimond  Badier,  Mace  Ruette,  L.  A. 
Boyet,  Padeloup  le  Jeuue,  J.  le  Monnier,  Derome  le  Jeune,  Cape, 
Duru,  Thouvenin,  Bauzonnet,  Trautz,  Lortic    .         .         •    p-  205 


INDEX 2J.  245 


LIST     OF    PLATES. 


1.  GOLDEN   BINDING   OF   "THE  GOSPELS   OF   CHARLEMAGNE," 

WITH  JEWELS  AND  ENAMELS,  llXH  OR  12tH  CENTURY. 

{See  p.  54)       .......        Frontispiece 

2.  PAGE     FROM      WILLIAM      CASLON's      "  SPECIMEN      OF      PRINTING 

TYPES."     (LONDON,  1766)    ....         To  face  p.       98 

3.  P.\GE     FROM     THE     "  HYPNEROTOMACHIA     POLIPHILI."      (VENICE, 

1499) To  face  p.     104 

4.  PAGE  FROM  C.iXTON's  "  MYRROUR  OF  THE  WORLDE."        (LONDON, 

1481) To  face  p.     108 

5.  "  THE     PEACOCK."  WOOD      ENGRAVING      BY     THOS.       BEWICK, 

FROM    THE     "HISTORY    OF    BRITISH    BIRDS."       (NEWCASTLE, 

1797-1804) To  face  p.     110 

6.  TITLE  -  PAGE      OF      GRIMM's       "  GERMAN      POPULAR      STORIES." 

(LONDON,  1824) To  face  p.     124 

7.  FRENCH    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY   BINDING  BY  LE  GASCON.      RED 

MOROCCO,    INLAID   WITH    OLIVE    AND     CITRON    MOROCCO    AND 
GOLD    TOOLED    IN    THE    POINTILLE    MANNER     .  TofaCCf.      238 


THE    BOOK: 

ITS   HISTORY   AND    DEVELOPMENT. 
CHAPTER  I. 

^  EAELY  RECORDS. 

Eock  inscrii^tions — Marks  on  wood — Quijius — Wampum — Modern 
ideograplis — Indian  palm  leaf  books — Ideograplis  and  alphabets— 
Diptychs. 

The  idea  of  making  records  by  means  of  marks  cut  on 
stone  or  wood  did  not  originate  in  any  one  place,  for  signs 
of  it  are  i(S^mf^  more  or  less  all  over  the  world  wherever 
jjrimitive  man  has  existed.  It  was  not  until  a  comparatively 
late  period  that  the  various  kinds  of  record  keeping  were 
united  after  a  fashion  and  true  writing  evolved  itself  out 
of  the  chaos. 

There  are  some  forms  of  record  keeping  that  have  been 
largely  used  by  the  human  race  which,  as  far  as  we  can  at 
present  tell,  have  not  influenced  our  present  form  of  book 
except  negatively ;  but  indirectly  they  may  still  have  done 
so  in  some  manner  that  we  cannot  distinguish. 

Mankind  is  naturally  imitative,  and  among  his  early 
efforts  in  this  direction  are  the  scratchings  on  bones  and 
antlers.  They  comprise  outlines  of  deer,  mammoths,  reindeer, 

T.B.  B 


2        THE  BOOK:  ITS  IIISTOKY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

seals,  bears,  horses  and  other  animals.  Several  instances 
of  these  early  drawings  have  been  found  in  the  caves  of  the 
'  Dordogne  in  France.  These,  however,  are  not  records,  they 
are  only  pictures  of  what  the  artist  saw,  and  a  large  proportion 
of  rock  and  stone  markings  come  into  the  same  category. 
But  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  latter  are  intended 
to  commemorate  certain  events  ;  they  show  groupings  of 
marks,  animals  and  men  in  positions  and  attitudes  which  are 
clearly  intended  to  mean  something,  and  now  and  then  it  has 
been  possible  to  make  a  good  guess  at  their  interpretation. 

The  earliest  marks  made  by  man  that  still  exist  are  to  be 
found  among  the  rock  markings  or  carvings,  as  these  are 
often  in  protected  places  where  the  weather  has  not  worn 
them  away.  Prehistoric  caves  and  tombs  are  prolific  in 
such  treasures,  and  the  marks,  ideograj)hs  or  hieroglyphics 
are  always  of  the  greatest  interest.  There  seems  to  be 
some  analogy  between  the  great  megalithic  temples  like 
that  on  Salisbury  Plain  and  many  of  the  rock  inscriptions, 
but  little  is  at  present  known  on  this  point. 

Cup  and  ring  markings  on  rocks  or  stones  are  among  the 
most  remarkable  of  rock  inscriptions  because  they  are  not 
isolated  as  to  their  design.  From  Ireland  to  India  these 
marks  are  found  possessing  the  same  radical  forms,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  avoid  the  conclusion  that  they  have  been 
made  by  tribes  of  men  who  had  some  thought  or  idea  in 
<jommon.  What  this  idea  was  is  still  a  disputed  point 
among  archaeologists. 

Cup  and  ring  markings  are  held  by  some  authorities  to  be 
astronomical,  sun  signs,  but  these  speculations,  especially  in 
Scandinavian  examj)les,  soon  land  us  in  pure  sj^mbolism, 
ring  crosses,  swastikas,  triskeles  and  the  rest. 


EAELY  EECOEDS. 


Apart  from  these,  marks  are  found  in  the  British  Isles  and 
in  India  particularly  through  which  a  dominant  idea  is 
clearly  present.  It  seems  likely  that  some  common  religious 
symbolism  is  really  the  key  to  the  mystery,  and  this  belief, 
disavowed  by  Sir  J,  Simpson,  is  strongly  held  by  Col. 
J.  H.  Eivett-Carnac,  as  well  as  by  many  others.  By  these 
archaeologists  the  cup  and  ring  markings  are  considered  to 
be  the  ideographic  expressions  of  one  of  the  primitive 
rehgions  of  the  world  which  was  very  widely  spread,  and  the 
remains  of  which  exist  in  India 
at  the  present  day. 

But  even  admitting  the  pos- 
sibility of  this  interpretation, 
.  there  are  still  many  points  left 
unexplained.  For  instance,  in 
the  drawing,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  cups  with  their  rings 
are  cunningly  attached  to  each 
other,  and  the  whole  design 
appears  as  if  it  "  means  something."  No  doubt  some 
day  further  light  will  be  thrown  upon  this  curious  form 
of  record. 

The  Assyrian  and  Babylonian  sculptures  both  in  the  round 
and  in  bas-reliefs  are  commonly  covered  with  cuneiform 
inscriptions,  and  these  are  also  plentifully  found  inscribed 
on  stone  stelae  and  bronze  figurines.  The  famous  Rosetta 
stone  is  a  familiar  example  of  a  tri-lingual  inscription  that 
will  probably  last  as  long  as  the  world  lasts.  It  is  now  in 
the  British  Museum,  and  bears  an  inscription  in  Hiero- 
glyphic, Demotic  and  Greek.  The  Greek  being  understood, 
it  gave  at  once  the  key  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Hiero- 

B  2 


Fig.  1. — Stone  cist  with  ring 
marks.  Found  at  Coilsford 
in  Ayrshire. 


4        THE   BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

glyphic.  The  date  of  the  cutting  of  this  stone  is  ahout  the 
beginning  of  the  second  century  before  the  birth  of  Christ. 
An  earher  stone  of  a  similar  kind  is  known  as  the  tablet  of 
Ben ;  it  contains  a  decree  of  the  priests  at  Canopus  in 
honour  of  Ptolemy  Evergetes  I.  It  was  made  in  b.c.  238, 
but  has  not  yet  got  to  England. 

The  ten  commandments  were  engraved  on  stone,  and 
instances  of  inscriptions  on  small  stones  are  very 
numerous.     From  Egypt  to  North  America  amulets  bearing 

mystical  sentences  have  been 
commonly  made.  Familiar  to 
most  of  us  are  the  turquoises 
engraved  with  Araljic  words 
run  in  with  gold,  and  the 
curious  "Garuda"  and  other 
stones,  with  magical  inscrip- 
FiG.  2.— Garuda  amulet.  tions  and  credited  with  magical 

powers,  have  been  common  in 
the  East  from  time  immemorial. 

In  India  inscriptions,  holy  names,  invocations  and 
quotations  are  cut  on  small  flat  pieces  of  jasper,  agate, 
onyx,  carnelian,  amethyst,  hematite,  jade,  and  materials  of 
less  value  like  coral  or  glass,  some  of  the  old  and  some  new. 
Musulman  amulets  of  similar  kinds  are  also  sometimes  found 
on  gold,  silver,  iron,  and  even  on  small  bricks  of  baked  clay. 
Many  of  these  amulets  have  pierced  ears  for  suspension, 
and  they  were  worn  as  jewellery  on  the  neck  or  ears  or  sewn 
on  girdles.  They  were  also  fixed  on  weapons  of  war  and 
horse  furniture.  Some  of  the  stones  are  engraved  in 
reverse  so  as  to  make  impressions.  These  are  seal  stones, 
but  the  greater  number  are  engraved  simply  so  as  to  read 


EAELT  RECORDS.  5 

straightforwardly.  They  are  in  Arabic,  Persian,  and  rarely 
Turkish. 

Greek  and  Roman  cameos  and  intaglios  are  often  found 
bearing  short  inscriptions  as  well  as  the  names  of  their 
engravers.  Even  the  diamond  has  not  escaped,  but 
inscriptions  on  this  stone  are  very  rare  because  of  the 
difficult}^  of  engraving  it.  Numbers  of  inscriptions,  names 
and  mottoes  can  be  found  on  ring  stones  of  all  times  as  well 
as  on  real  stones. 

Curious  Chinese  books  are  made  of  leaves  of  jade,  and  in 
these  inscriptions  are  cut  in  the  decorative  Chinese 
character,  run  in  with  gold. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  forms  of  letters  have  always 
been  much  influenced  by  the  manner  in  which  they  could 
be  most  easily  made.  It  is  easier  to  cut  a  square  form  of 
letter  on  stone  than  a  cursive  form,  so  we  find  that  the 
majority  of  rock  or  stone  inscriptions  favour  the  square 
form  rather  than  the  rounded  form  of  letter.  We  derive 
our  angular  forms  of  letters  from  the  distant  past,  but  the 
rounded  forms  are  adapted  from  the  later  times  of  papyrus 
or  vellum,  when  reed  or  pen  writing  was  understood. 

Writings  on  metal  have  been  made  from  time  to  time,  but 
never  very  largely.  In  India  inscribed  plaques  of  bronze, 
kept  together  by  metal  rings,  have  been  often  used. 
Tablets  of  lead  are  recorded  as  having  been  used  by  ancient 
peoples,  and  Oriental  as  well  as  European  talismanic 
formulae  have  been  engraved  on  small  plates  of  silver, 
bronze,  brass  or  lead,  the  letters  being  now  and  then  dama- 
scened with  gold  and  silver.  In  ancient  Rome  name-brands 
were  cut  in  bronze,  and  impressions  could  have  been 
printed  from  them.     They  were  beautifully  cut. 


6         THE  BOOK:   ITS   HI8T0EY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


The  Nicene  creed  was  cut  in  silver  by  order  of  Pope 
Leo  III.,  and  in  the  East  strips  of  metal  have  con- 
stantly been  substituted  for  the  long  thin  pieces  of 
palm  leaf  which  formed  the  normal  books.  The  roeral 
leaves  are  found  of  gold,  silver,  or  gilded  copper  par- 
ticularly. The  plates  are  quite  thin,  and  the  characters 
upon  them  are  generally  engraved,  but  sometimes  they  are 
chased  with  tracer  and  hammer.  Such  records  are  not 
only  very  permanent  but  they  are  also  very  decorative. 
The  modern  engraving  of  inscriptions  on  metal  has  mainly 
found  refuge  in  monumental  brasses,  and  in  this  case  the 

letterings  are  usually  run 
in  with  some  pigment. 

Another  primitive  form 
of  record  is  found  in  the 
case  of  notches  cut  in 
wood.  A  savage  warrior 
of  a  literary  turn  of  mind 
would  naturally  wish  to  keep  some  record  of  the 
number  of  his  enemies  that  he  had  killed  and  perhaps 
eaten,  and  an  obvious  way  of  doing  this  would  be  to  cut  or 
scratch  marks  on  his  war  club.  Such  records  would,  no 
doubt,  become  customary  among  war-like  tribes.  The 
handles  of  war  axes  or  spears  would  offer  excellent  ground 
for  such  marks,  and  presently,  especially  in  peace  times, 
similar  marks  may  well  have  kept  tallies  of  the  numbers  of 
game  killed. 

From  such  personal  notes  the  transition  to  others  of  wider 
interest  is  not  difficult,  and  so  we  find  the  notches  used, 
on  bits  of  wood  or  sticks,  for  almanacks  and  calendars. 
Ogham  and  Eunic  inscriptions  follow  the  ancient  idea  of 


Fig.  3. — Euuic  calendar  on  bone. 


EAELY  EECOEDS. 


^ 


*«*        '      -M 


if 


f 


notches  cut  along  an  angular  edge,  and  these  notches  and 
rods  are   the  ver}^  distant   ancestors   of 
our  modern  types  of  metal ;  the  German 
word    "  Buchstah,"    meaning     type,    is 
etymologically  "a  wooden  rod." 

In  Denmark  and  Sweden  in  ancient 
times  almanacks  were  cut  on  flat  pieces 
of  metal,  bone,  horn,  box,  fir  or  oak. 
The  majority  of  them  are  of  wood,  but  the 
other  materials  were  sometimes  used. 
They  are  variously  known  as  Piune 
staves  or  stocks,  Prime  staves,  Messe  dag 
staves  or  Brim  stocks,  and  they  are 
generally  hinged  along  one  side  by  cords 
run  through  holes,  several  slabs  being 
thus  fastened  together.  Wooden  calen- 
dars are  also  often  found  among  the 
records  kept  by  primitive  jDeoples ;  they 
have  been  found  in  Sumatra  and  in 
many  other  places. 

Similar  almanacks  were  used  by  our 
S  axon  ancestors,  who  no  doubt  borrowed 
the  idea  from  the  Scandinavians.  One 
side  was  kept  for  the  summer  and  the 
other  for  the  winter,  and  notches  for  the 
days  were  made  across  the  edges. 

During  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth 
a  modification  of  the  Scandinavian  Rune 
staves   was    largely   used    in    England, 
chiefly   in    Staft'ordshire,  but  not   exclusively.     These   are 
known  as  "  clog  almanacks,"  and  Dr.  Plott  says  that  "  Clogg 


8        THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

may  mean  Logg,  or  that  they  are  like  the  cloggswith  which 
we  restrain  our  doggs." 

EngHsh  clog  almanacks  are  squared  pieces  of  wood, 
measuring  from  about  two  feet  to  nine  or  ten  inches  in 
length,  and  the  larger  ones  are  sometimes  as  much  as  three 
inches  square.  They  are  notched  along  the  angles,  small 
notches  without  ornamentation  indicating  week  days,  big 
notches  stand  for  Sundays,  and  Saints  days  have  all  kinds 
of  ornamental  flourishes,  which  now  and  then  show  familiar 
forms  such  as  Saint  Catherine's  wheel  and  Saint  Lawrence's 
gridiron. 

Some  of  the  clogs  show  a  hole  at  the  lower  end,  evidently 

so  that  they  could 
stand  upright  upon  a 
peg,  others,  and  these 

Fig.  5.— Modern  lioi>tally  of  wood.  ^^^^    ^^e    most     usual, 

have  a  flat  pierced 
handle  so  that  they  can  be  suspended  by  a  loop.  They  were 
commonly  kept  in  churches.  Details  of  several  well  known 
examples  of  clog  almanacks  will  be  found  figured  in  The 
Reliquary  for  January,  1865,  in  illustration  of  an  excellent 
article  on  the  subject  by  Mr.  John  Harland.  Exchequer  and 
other  wooden  tallies  were  common  in  England  in  the  14th 
century,  and  in  modern  days  a  certain  survival  of  them  exists 
in  the  form  of  hop-tallies.  These  are  two  strips  of  wood 
which  fit  closely  together  with  a  tongue,  and  when  in  contact 
notches  are  made  across  the  two  edges  in  apposition,  so 
that  when  the  two  pieces  are  aj^art,  neither  party  can  falsify 
the  notches  without  it  being  at  once  apparent  when  the 
slips  are  finally  brought  together.  The  principle  is  exactly 
the  same  as  that  utilised  in  the  old  legal   "  indentures," 


EAELY  EECOEDS.  9 

by  virtue  of  wliieli  a  piece  of  vellum  was  cut  iii  two 
by  an  indentured,  or  toothed  line,  and  if  these  did  not 
exactly  fit  whenever  they  were  brought  together  it  became 
evident  that  they  had  been  tampered  with.  In  parts  of 
France  tallies  like  these  are  still  used  by  bakers. 

Wooden  tallies  are  also  found  among  the  inhabitants  of 
Torres  Straits,  where  they  use  them  made  of  short  sticks 
tied  together  at  their  tops. 

Curious  inscriptions,  as  yet  undecipherable,  have  been 
found  at  Easter  Island  ;  they  are  cut  in  thick  slabs  of  wood 
and  are  ideographic. 

Bones  have  been  from  very  early  times. the  recipients  of 
men's  marks  ;  the  earliest  of  these,  however,  were  only  copies 
of  things  seen.  But  inscriptions  and  symbols  were  presently 
scratched  on  them,  and  the  blade  bones  of  buffaloes  in 
North  America  as  well  as  the  shoulder  blades  of  sheep  used 
by  the  Arabs  are  equally  convenient  for  writing  upon.  In 
Sumatra  inscriptions  are  commonly  cut  in  flat  pieces  of 
bone.  Instances  of  inscriptions  in  ivory  are  very  numerous, 
and  the  finest  examples  of  these  occur  in  the  case  of  the  Eoman 
consular  dij)tychs  which  are  described  a  little  further  on. 

Information  as  to  direction  is  still  often  given  by  means 
of  marks  or  "  blazes  "  on  trees,  a  survival  of  a  primitive 
method,  and  American  lumbermen  or  "  loggers "  cut 
hieroglyphic  marks  of  ownership  on  their  logs  when  they 
send  them  down  stream. 

In  times  of  trouble  it  often  happens  that  primitive 
methods  of  communication  are  resorted  to,  like  that  received 
by  a  Cavalier  from  his  lady  love  who  heard  that  the 
Pioundheads  were  after  him — she  sent  him  a  feather,  and 
he  flew  away  and  escaped. 


10      THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Fig.  6. 


Such  symbolical  messages  are  common  enough  among 
savage  tribes,  but  without  some  key  it  is  almost  impossible 
to  interpret  them.  They  are  so 
various  in  their  composition  that  no 
useful  analysis  of  them  can  be  made. 
On  one  such  message  from  West 
Africa,  strung  on  a  string  of  fiat  fibre 
knotted  at  each  end,  are  a  bit  of  shell,  a 
bit  of  fur,  a  bean,  a  cylindrical  stick, 
a  piece  of  leather,  a  mass  of  frog's  eggs 
or  something  like  it,  a  fiat  piece  of 
bark,  a  feather,  a  tooth  and  a  shell. 
In  another  are  two  pieces  of  fiat  glass 
kept  together  with  red  thread,  and 
two  teeth  on  each  side  of  it,  all 
strung  on  fibre,  and  so  on. 

The  Battas  of  Sumatra  use  different  and  probably   more 
elaborate   messages,   as   they 
consist  of  carefully  cut  strips 
of  wood,  resembling  the  old 
spillikins  with  which  our  child- 
hood's days  were  made  happy. 
These    strips    of    thin   wood, 
about  three  inches  in  length, 
are   cut   into   various  shapes 
which   have   no   obvious  col- 
lective  meaning.     In  one  of 
them  is  a  capital  model  of  a 
little  broom,  accompanied  apparently  by  a  series  of  little 
clubs    and    spikes.      Such    a    message   might    have    been 
sent  by  an  absent  brave  to  his  squaw  at  home,  and  may  have 


Fig. 


EAELY  EECOEDS. 


11 


meant  that  if  she  didn't  sweep  up  the  Nvigwam  before  his 
arrival  she  would  experience  the  efi'ect  of  one  or  other  of 
the  clubs. 

The  Incas  of  Peru  had  a  regular  system  of  keeping 
records  by  means  of  coloured  pieces  of  string  knotted  in  a 
peculiar  way. 

These  knotted  records,  or  Quipus,  had  special  keepers 


-Peruvian  Quipu. 


who  held  office  in  the  provinces,  and  the  results  of  their 
energy  were  forwarded  annually  to  the  capital  city  for 
examination  and  preservation.  The  provincial  keei^ers 
were  called  "  Quipu  Camayas,"  and  the  records  they 
kept  were  mainly  statistics  concerning  the  people  of  their 
districts.  The  knots  were  arranged  either  on  a  strong 
piece  of  cord  or  upon  a  stick,  and  formed  a  sort  of  fringe ; 
the  word  "  Quipu  "  means  a  knot.  According  to  the  posi- 
tion of  the  knot  a  certain  number  was  probably  indicated, 
and  the  class  of  person  referred  to  is  shown  by  the  colour 
of  the  bit  of  string  which  represents  it. 

But  it  is  also  likely  that  more  elaborate  interpretations 


12      TlIE  ]?OOTv:   ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

could  be  made  by  skilled  interpreters  of  Quipus.  Little 
is  really  known  as  to  that,  but  it  is  suggested  by  competent 
ol)servers  that,  for  instance,  red  meant  war,  yellow  meant 
gold,  white  meant  peace,  and  silver.  But  this  is  proljably 
guess  work.  The  same  idea  has  been  utilised  in  the  case  of 
a  rare  Chinese  book,  the  leaves  of  which  were  of  differently 
coloured  silks.  Each  colour  was  supposed  to  convey  a 
certain  emotion  to  the  student,  and  when  he  had  exhaustect 
the  emotion  caused  by  one  colour,  he  turned  over  the  leaf 

so  as  to   experience   the 
effect  of   another. 

The    use   of   knots   as 
reminders    is    not    quite 
obsolete,  as  it  is  common 
enough  even  now  to  make 
a   knot    in    one's   hand- 
kerchief, if  anything  easy 
is  to  be  remembered.     It 
is  curious  if  this  custom 
is    really   a    survival   of 
the  Peruvian   Quipu  ! 
A  form  of  knotted  record  is  used  among  several  of  the 
tribes  in  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  the  Jewish  "  Taleth,"  or 
scarf,  has  fringes  which  imply  certain  facts. 

The  ordinary  rosary  with  its  ten  beads  for  Ave  Maria's 
and  single  ones  for  Pater  Nosters  has  also  something  in 
common  with  knots,  and  possibly  the  abacus  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  Chinese  may  have  a  similar  origin.  But  probably 
these  last  are  only  used  as  aids  in  mathematical 
calculations. 

Something   analogous   to   the   Peruvian   knots  is  to  be 


EiG.  9. — Cardinal's  hat. 


J 


EAELY  EECOKDS. 


13 


found  in  the  tasselled  and  knotted  fringes  which  adorn  the 
ceremonial  hats  of  dignitaries  in  the  Eomish  church. 

The  hats  themselves  are  alwaj^s  of  the  same  shape, 
round  shallow  crowns  with  broad  brims.  The  fringes, 
however,  differ  in  size  and  colour  according  to  the  rank  of 
the  wearer.  The  master  cord  is  drawn  through  the  brim 
of  the  hat  at  its  inner  edge,  at  a  point  over  each  ear,  and 
kept  in  place  by  a  large  ornamental  knot  on  the  outside. 

The  tassels  start  from  one,  and  from  this  two  others 
depend,  and  from  these  three,  and  so  on,  one  more  in  each 
row.  An  abbot  wears  a  black  hat  with  six  green  tassels  on 
each  side  ;  a 
bishop  wears  a 
green  hat  with 
six  green  tassels 
on  each  side  on 
a  gold  cord  ;  an 
archbishop  has  a 
violet  hat  with 
ten  violet  tassels 
on  each  side  on  a  gold  cord,  and  a  cardinal  has  a  red  hat 
with  fifteen  red  tassels  on  a  gold  cord,  depending  on  each 
side. 

The  wampum  belts  of  North  America,  were  primarily 
used  as  money,  but  they  were  also  made  sometimes  in  such 
a  way  that  they  formed  historical  records. 

The  true  "  Six  Nation  "  wampum  belts  were  made  of 
little  white  and  purple  cylinders  of  shell  very  laboriously 
cut,  and  the  purple  ones  very  difficult  to  get.  "  Wampum  " 
means  white,  and  there  is  generally  a  preponderance  of  this 
colour.     The  short  beads  are  strung  upon  long  threads  or 


Fig.  10. 


-Portion  of  Xorth  American  wampum 
belt. 


14      THE  BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOl'MENT. 

strips  of  leather,  iind  the  design  shows  sometimes  in 
purple  on  a  white  ground  and  sometimes  in  white  on  a 
purple  ground. 

The  designs  are  sometimes  easy  to  decipher,  like  the  helt 
which  typifies  the  Iroquois  League,  showing  the  one  heart 
of  the  ruling  nation  in  the  centre,  and  the  allied  nations, 
each  shown  by  a  square,  united  together  in  one  bond. 

A  very  fine  and  interesting  wampum  belt  was  given  as  a 
record  of  friendship  to  William  Penn  at  the  Great  Treaty  in 
1682,  by  the  Sachems  of  the  Lenni  Lenape.  It  is  now  pre- 
served by  the  Historical  Society  at  Philadelphia.  It  is  made 
of  eighteen  rows  of  white  and  purple  cylindrical  shell  beads, 
the  ground  white  and  the  designs  in  purple.  The  beads  are 
laced  upon  nineteen  parallel  "  horizontal  "  strips  of  leather 
by  means  of  thinner  strips  running  vertically  across  them 
and  brought  twice  through  each  bead,  one  running  being 
above  the  horizontal  strip  and  the  other  below  it.  It  is  a 
curious  way  of  stringing  beads,  and  was  practised  in 
England  some  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago  in  the  making  of 
small  bead  ribbons.  In  the  centre  of  the  belt  is  a 
conventional  figure  of  Penn  shaking  hands  with  the  chief 
Sachem. 

Many  of  the  wampum  belts  seem  to  have  only  geome- 
trical designs  upon  them,  but  doubtless,  without  exception, 
these  fine  white  and  purple  shell  belts,  cut  with  infinite 
patience  and  skill,  and  put  together  with  the  greatest  care, 
always  have  some  meaning.  The  Iroquois  could,  until 
recentl}',  interpret  them  at  once,  but  now  they  are  less  able 
to  understand  the  work  of  their  ancestors. 

There  are  plenty  of  imitation  wampum  belts,  usually 
made  of  small  shells  or  ordinary  l)eads.     The  genuine  belts 


EAELY  EECOEDS.  15 

are  flat  and  strong,  and  the  little  shell  cylmders  nearly  all 
of  the  same  size.  The  imitations  are  much  more  irregularly 
and  carelessly  made,  and  they  are  often  without  any  colour 
but  wliite. 

A  common  form  of  book  in  Oriental  countries  consists  of 
long  narrow  strips  of  palm  leaf,  kept  together  by  two 
strings  run  through  holes  near  each  end.  The  writing 
upon  the  leaves  is  carried  right  along  the  length  of  each 
leaf  in  successive  lines,  and  is  scratched  in,  and  usually 
strengthened  by  means  of  lamp  black  rubbed  over  it  so  as 
to  stick  in  the  scratches. 

This  form  of  book  rests  by  itself.  Apparently  it  has  never 
altered  materially,  neither  has 
it  in  any  way  affected  the  pro- 
duction of  the  book  as  we  know 
it.  The  palm  leaves  are  brittle, 
they  are  troublesome  to  turn  Fig.  U. — Oriental  palm-leaf 
over,  and  are  likely  to  split  and 

break  where  the  cord  touches  them.  But  the  leaves 
are  frequently  made  of  stronger  materials  than  palm  leaf, 
some  of  them  being  of  gold,  silver,  or  gilded  copj)er, 
and  in  these  cases  the  lettering  is  engraved  or  punched. 
Others  are  written  on  plates  of  ivory,  the  letters  being 
gilded,  others  again  on  plates  of  lacquer  with  letters  inlaid 
with  mother-of-pearl ;  indeed,  the  variety  is  large. 

The  leaves  are  always  enclosed  between  two  covers  of 
stronger  make  hut  of  the  same  shape,  and  these  covers  are 
often  very  elaborately  ornamented.  Some  of  them  have 
exquisite  carved  work  and  inlaid  work  and  others  are 
painted.  In  the  case  of  Indian  examples  they  are  often 
messed   over    with  red  stains.     When    this    is   found   the 


u;      THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

manuscript  has  belonged  to  some  shrine,  and  worshippers 
have  daubed  it  with  rice  and  red  paint  as  a  sort  of  peace 
offering.  The  strings  with  which  the  leaves  are  1>ound 
together  are  also  sometimes  handsomely  ornamented. 

Ancient  rock  inscriptions,  tallies,  quipus  and  wampums 
are  all  more  or  less  ideographic,  and  among  trade  signs 
there  are  still  many  ideographs  in  common  use,  some  of 
them  of  considerable  antiquity.  There  are  the  three  golden 
balls  of  the  pawnbroker,  which  mean  that  money  can  be 
borrowed  there.  They  are  derived  from  the  coat  of  arms  of 
the  Medici  of  Lombard}^  The  Lomliards  were  mediaeval 
bankers  and  money  lenders,  and  for  their  badge  they  took 
three  of  the  golden  balls,  or  pills,  out  of  the  Medici  coat. 

These  balls  varied  in  number  and  colour,  they  were  some- 
times red,  and  sometimes  blue,  and  three  blue  balls  upon  a 
white  ground  was  one  of  the  mediaeval  signs  used  by  money 
lenders,  but  the  three  golden  balls  have  proved  more 
lasting. 

Another  old  ideograph  is  the  white  barber's  pole,  with  its 
red  spiral,  the  image  of  the  red  bandage  used  to  tie  up  an 
arm  which  had  just  been  bled.  It  was  originally  the  mark 
of  a  barber  surgeon,  but  the  barber  still  uses  it  although  he 
no  longer  bleeds  his  clients.  An  old  sign  for  a  barber  is 
also  a  shaving  dish.  This  is  oftener  seen  on  the  continent 
than  it  is  here. 

The  embowed  arm  holding  a  hammer  is  an  old  sign  of 
a  gold  beater,  and  is  generally  itself  gilded.  It  is  clearly 
an  ideograph,  as  is  also  the  fishing  rod  with  a  golden  fish, 
which  is  a  usual  sign  over  a  fishing  tackle  maker's  shop,  A 
modern  instance  of  the  same  kind  is  a  gilded  ham  which  is 
not  uncommonly  seen  over  provision  shops,  quite  a  modern 


EAELY  EECORDS.  17 

sign.  The  rapidly  disappearing  Highlander  taking  snuff  is 
another  modern  ideograph.  There  are  plenty  more  of  such 
signs,  most  of  which  tell  their  story  directly  and  simpl}^ 
while  others,  the  older  ones  particularly,  may  at  first  seem 
arbitrary,  but  often  a  little  examination  will  reveal  a  simple 
origin. 

The  curious  hieroglyphics  still  used  by  gypsies  are  no 
doubt  derived  from  Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  and  although 
most  of  them  have  changed  considerably,  a  certain  resem- 
blance in  some  of  the  forms  can  still  be  traced. 

Ideograms  are  still  used  in  North  America  in  out  of  the 
way  places.  A  common  mark  for  a  cheese  is  a  circle,  and 
this  sign  was  found  oj)posite  a  farmer's  name,  but  he  had 
never  had  one.  He  did,  however,  owe  for  a  grindstone, 
and  the  draughtsman  clerk  had  forgotten  to  put  in  the 
centre  dot  which  would  have  marked  the  difference 
between  the  stone  and  the  edible. 

In  common  use  more  or  less  all  over  the  civilised  world 
is  the  pointing  hand,  meaning  either  "  Look  there "  or 
"  This  way." 

Some  signs  are  also  ideographic  in  character  ;  among  these 
are  certain  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  signs,  and  also  some  of 
the  arm  signals  used  in  the  navy.  In  the  army  some  of 
the  bugle  calls  imitate  as  far  as  possible  the  sounds  to 
which  they  refer.  For  instance,  the  "  prepare  for  cavalry  " 
h^  some  resemblance  to  horses  galloping. 

Ideographs  used  in  written  languages  soon  change  in 
character.  Xo  longer  do  they  mean  simply  what  they  portray, 
but  the  sound  of  its  name,  and  then  by  degrees  they  repre- 
sented the  first  syllable,  and  eventually  only  the  first  letter 
of  its  name.     These  changes  of  meaning  are  accompanied  by 

T.B.  c 


IS      THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

changes  of  form,  and  it  is  very  curious  to  trace  how  an 
apparently  arbitrary  letter  form  is  really  only  the  survival  of 
the  main  lines  of  an  ancient  ideogram.  There  are  several 
most  interesting  instances  of  these  changes  given  by  Dr. 
Isaac  Taylor  in  his  classic  "  History  of  the  Alphabet,"  as  well 
as  by  other  writers  on  the  subject,  particularly  Sir  E.  Maunde 
Thompson  and  Mr.  Falconer  Madan. 

Egyptian  inscriptions  show  both  ideofiraphs,  hieroglyphics 
and  alphabetic  signs,  as  there  is  usually  a  word  spelt  out 
in  syllables  or  letters,  and  at  the  end  of  it  the  complete 
word  shown  as  a  little  picture.  The  hieroglyphics  altered 
into  a  style  of  writing  which  was  not  so  pictorial  about 
the  nineteenth  century  e.g.,  and  although  alphabetical 
symbols  were  actually  used  as  early  as  4,000  b.c, 
yet  it  was  very  many  years  later  than  this  that  they 
became  of  general  use.  The  earliest  piece  of  hieroglyphic 
known  is  cut  upon  stone  on  a  tablet  now  preserved  in  the 
Ashmolean  Museum  at  Oxford.  It  is  supposed  to  have 
been  made  about  4,000  e.g.,  and  on  it  the  name  of  King 
Send  is  written  alphabetically. 

Our  present  alphabetic  writing  is  by  no  means  final,  as  it  is 
even  now  undergoing  a  remarkable  change,  in  which  neither 
ideograph,  hieroglyphic,  nor  alphabet  plays  any  part. 
Shorthand  will  in  time  supersede  our  comparatively 
cumbrous  process,  and  it  is  purely  phonetic. 

Chinese  writing  is  still  in  the  syllabic  state,  but  the 
Japanese,  which  is  formed  from  it,  has  advanced  many 
steps  towards  the  alphabetical  stage. 

The  earliest  handwriting  known  is  that  on  the  Paj)yrus 
Prisse,  now  in  Paris.  It  is  in  Egyptian  hieratic  writing, 
and  is  supposed   to   date   perhaps    from    about   4,000  e.g. 


EAELY  EECOEDS.  19 

The  hieratic  is  a  cursive  form  of  hieroglyphic,  and  was 
used  particularly  by  priests. 

We  derive  our  present  letters  "  longo  intervallo  "  from 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics,  and  the  history  of  their  evolution 
is  full  of  interest. 

It  may  be  well  here  to  review  rapidly  how  it  is  that  we 

have  acquired  an  alphabet  for  printing  purposes  which  is 

clear,  though  not  beautiful.     Our  present  type  shows  two 

alphabets  ;  one,  the  capital  letters,  are  of  Roman  origin,  the 

other,  the    small   letters,  are  a   modification  of  what  are 
» 

called  Carolingian  minuscules,  and  both  alphabets  have 
reached  us  through  the  Latin,  Greek,  Phoenician  and 
Semitic. 

Up.  to  the  seventh  or  eighth  centuries  in  Europe  the 
various  styles  of  writing  were  in  a  mixed  condition,  but  about 
that  time  the  different  forms  of  letters  began  to  arrange 
themselves,  and  to  follow  distinctive  lines  of  development 
in  different  countries. 

Charlemagne  interested  himself  in  the  matter,  and  saw 
that  the  time  had  arrived  when  something  could  be  done 
towards  clearing  away  the  many  difficulties  which  croj^ped 
up  by  reason  of  the  different  forms  of  letters  which  then 
existed.  He  caused  careful  studies  to  be  made  of  existing 
stj^les  so  that  some  sort  of  common  ground  could  be  found. 
At  Tours  the  Emperor  set  up  a  sort  of  Royal  Commission 
to  enquire  into  the  matter,  and  at  the  head  of  it  he  placed  a 
learned  Englishman,  Alcuin  of  York,  who  was  known  as  a 
great  student  and  was  himself  a  calligraphist.  Alcuin  was 
trained  in  the  beautiful  Hiberno-Saxon  hand,  of  which  so 
many  magnificent  examples  still  remain — the  Book  of 
Kells,  the  Gospels  of  Lindisfarne,  and  several  more. 

c2 


20      THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


At  Tours  tlie  Carolingian  minuscules,  which  are  the 
direct  ancestors  of  our  small,  or  lower-case  letters,  were 
developed. 

Our  capital  letters  have  developed  themselves  on  different 
lines.  They  are  like  the  ancient  Eoman  types,  which  in 
the  twelfth  century  had  modified  themselves  somewhat  and 
become  very  clear,  and  these  forms  commended  themselves 
to  the  scribes  of  the  Eenaissance  period,  and  underwent 
still  more  improvement  in  details.  The  early  type  cutters 
who  formed  their  letters  directly  after  the  shapes  of  letters 
written  by  hand,  soon  saw  that  these 
capitals  were  not  only  easy  to  cut  but 
were  in  every  waj^  the  best  they 
could  find  to  copy. 

During  some  excavations  at 
Pompeii  in  1875  a  large  collection 
of  small  wax  writing  tablets  or  Pugil- 
laria  was  found.  These  tablets  re- 
semble small  slates  ;  they  are  of  wood, 
and  one  side  is  slightly  hollowed  out 
so  as  to  receive  a  filling  of  blackened  wax.  Generally  two 
of  the  tablets  were  hinged  together,  hence  their  name  of 
diptychs,  but  sometimes  they  were  in  threes  or  even  more, 
like  a  tail  or  "  Caudex,"  from  which  it  is  said  we  derive  our 
word  Codex.  Diptychs  are  the  direct  prototypes  of  our 
modern  books. 

The  writing  was  marked  on  the  wax  by  means  of  a  style 
in  the  same  way  that  writing  was  formerly  done  in  Eng- 
land on  the  curious  sand  tables.  These  styles  are  usually 
of  iron,  sometimes  inlaid  with  brass,  but  they  were  also 
made  of  bronze,  brass,  wood  or  bone.     They  always  have 


Fig.  12. — Eoman 
diiitycli. 


EAELY  EECOEDS.  21 

one  end  pointed  to  write  with  and  the  other  flat  to  erase 
with.  A  space  was  often  left  in  the  thickness  of  the 
wooden  edge  of  a  diptych  to  keep  the  style  in.  The 
erasing  in  the  case  of  the  diptych  was  effected  by  rubbing 
the  flat  end  of  the  style  over  it,  and  in  the  case  of  the  sand 
writing-tablet  by  a  plasterer's  level  or  a  good  shake. 
Sand  tablets  have  been  used  up  to  quite  recent  times  in 
elementary  schools.  But  the  sand  writing  was  always 
temporary,  w^hereas  the  wax  writing  is  very  lasting,  one  of 
those  found  at  Pompeii  bearing  the  date  a.d,  55.  It  records 
a  payment  to  Umbricia  Januaria,  and  is  the  earliest  Latin 
manuscript  known. 

Diptychs  of  similar  form  were  widely  used.     They  have 

/ 


Fig.  13.— Eoman  diptych  stylus. 

been  found  in  Egypt,  and  in  England — remains  of  the 
Roman  occupation — together  with  numbers  of  the  stvles 
used  for  writing  with. 

Diptychs  were  kept  together  at  the  back  by  means  of  metal 
rings  or  thongs  of  leather,  run  through  holes  made  in  the 
wood,  so  that  they  are  true  i^rototypes  of  our  modern  books 
both  as  to  form  and  manner  of  keeping  together,  the 
"  stabbed  "  form  of  binding,  that  is  to  say,  threads  or  bands 
or  wires  run  through  holes  pierced  along  the  back  edge  of 
the  sections  of  a  book,  having  been  in  continual  use  ever 
since  rolls  were  first  turned  into  books. 

^\hen  the  diptychs  were  used  as  private  letters  they 
were  further  fastened  wdth  a  tie  or  clasp  in  front,  and  this 


22      THE  BOOK:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


tie  was  often  sealed  with   the  sender's  signet   in  wax  or 

clay. 

The  Pompeian  and  all  the  other  small  wooden  diptychs 
are  unornamented,  hut  at  a  later 
period,  particularly  from  the  second 
to  the  seventh  century,  Eoman 
diptychs  became  of  much  import- 
ance and  were  often  decoratively 
treated,  being  made  of  ivory  and 
elaborately  carved. 

Labarte,  Gori,  Westwood  and 
Maskell  have  all  written  valuable 
works  concerning  these  ornamental 
diptychs,  and  specimens  of  more  or 
less  excellence  can  be  found  in  most 
museums  that  have  any  collection 
of  carvings  in  ivory.  The  earlier 
examples  are  the  best ;  later  speci- 
mens rapidly  decline  in  art  value, 
although  they  are  always  of  great 
historical  interest. 

One  leaf  of  one  of  the  finest  dip- 
tychs in  existence  is  fortunately  in 
the  British  Museum  ;  it  shows  a  fuU- 

FiG.  14.-Byzantine  dip-    j^^ w^  f^  ^f  ^^^  archangel  with 

tych  01  ivory.  o  o  o  ^ 

globe,   cross  and  long-staff,   and   is 

supposed    to    have    been    made    in    the    third    or    fourth 

century.     A   curious  point  about  this  leaf  is   its  unusual 

size,  about  IG  by  0  inches,  and  it  is  said  that  such  a  piece 

could   not  be  cut  from  any  known   elephant  tusk.     It  is 

possibly  mammoth  ivory. 


EAELY  RECOEDS. 


23 


For  a  long  time  the  supreme  power  at  Eome  was  vested 
in  the  consuls  who  held  office  for  one  year.  Naturally 
anyone  elected  to  this  high  position  was  anxious  to  inform 
everyone  holding  any  high  place  or  office  of  his  accession 
to  the  dignity,  and  the  usual 
way  of  doing  this  was  to  send 
round  diptychs  of  ivory  an- 
nouncing the  event,  as  well 
as  subsequent  ones  concerning 
any  other  important  matters 
which  might  occur  during  the 
consulate. 

Not  only  was  the  communi- 
cation inscribed  upon  the  wax, 
all  of  which  is  now  gone,  but 
the  outside  ivory  was  carved 
with  invaluable  portraits, 
scenes  and  inscriptions.  By 
examining  these  carvings  we 
can  frequently  ascertain  who 
was  the  consul  that  issued 
them,  and  often  enough  we 
can  find  his  portrait  carefully 
drawn.  In  one  of  the  many 
excavations     made     in     the 

Forum  at  Piome,, tablets  containing  a  list  of  Eoman  consuls 
were  found,  and  these  serve  as  an  official  check  upon  our 
interpretation  of  the  records  existing  upon  the  consular 
diptychs. 

Consular     diptychs     were     generally    larger    than    the 
wooden    pugillaria,    which     were    always    small.      Ivory 


Wi         \  J  \       \\\     M       '^'^WH 

'  |i,_jlL-ilJd_^ll 

f/j,llLIMu\ 'I   V- 

g[     p 

'  ft 

i  1 

i'  Is  ' 

11! 
11    i 

11 

il 

\    1 

I    j 

< 

1  f  w   "t   rwr^m^}) 

1  mi,\    \\          1        \v>    T '  V  \  W 

Fig.  15. — Ivory  diptycli  of  the 
consul  Yaleutinian,  a.d.  380. 


24      THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

diptychs  are  rarely  less  than  six  or  seven  inches  in 
length. 

The  privilege  of  giving  away  finely  carved  ivory  diptychs 
was  highly  esteemed,  and  in  the  fourth  century  the 
Emperor  Theodosius  issued  an  edict  forhidding  any  but  one 
of  tlie  tw^o  consuls,  one  at  Rome  and  the  other  at  Constan- 
tinople, to  issue  them. 

In  the  matter  of  consular  and  official  costume  thelloman 
carved  ivory  diptychs  are  of  great  importance. 

Figures  often  appear  on  coins  or  gems,  but  they  are 
always  very  small.  On  the  diptychs,  however,  tiiey  are 
sufficientl}''  large  to  show  full  details.  The  subjects 
depicted  on  them  are  various.  There  are  games,  combats 
in  the  circus,  scenes  from  the  Passion,  boys  emptying 
sacks  of  prizes,  figures  of  Saints,  Adam  and  Eve,  busts 
and  portraits  of  consuls  both  in  medallions  and  full  length. 
The  best  collections  of  consular  diptychs  are  to  be  found 
at  Eome,  Milan,  Monza,  Paris,  Munich,  Berlin,  Liverpool 
and  London. 

Besides  the  consular  there  are  also  ecclesiastical 
diptychs,  the  majority  of  which  were  probably  only  diverted 
from  their  original  intention  and  altered  and  adapted  to  a 
new  use.  The  original  wax  was  removed  and  new 
inscriptions  engraved  on  the  ivory,  mostly  lists  of  martyrs 
or  benefactors  to  the  particular  church  which  had  posses- 
sion of  the  diptych. 

There  is  one  at  Liege  on  which  the  names  of  the 
bishops  of  Tongres  are  written,  and  there  is  another 
similar  one  at  Novara.  It  is  probable  that  the  liking 
for  ivory  carvings  on  books  arose  from  the  lead  given 
by  the  ivory  diptychs.      Indeed    in  several  instances  the 


EAELY  RECORDS.  25 

sides  of  ivory  diptjchs  are  actually  inlaid  in  late  bindings 
of  MSS. 

WORKS  TO  CONSULT. 

Aglio,  a. — Autiquities  of  Mexico.  London,  1830-4S.  (Yol.  4,  at 
end.)     (Quipiis.) 

Berger. — Histoire  de  I'ecriture  dans  I'antiquite.      Paris,  1891. 

GoRT,  A.  F. — Thesaurus  reterum  diiitychorum  consularium  et 
ecclesiasticorimi.     Florentiae,  1759. 

Harland,  J. — The  Beh'(juury,  Jan.,  ISfJo.     (Clog  almanacks.) 

L.VBARTE,  J. — Histoire  des  Arts  ludustrielles  au  uioyen  age. 
(Diptj-chs.)     Paris,  l.S(54-()G. 

Lacroix,  p. — Les  arts  au  moyen  age.     (Diptyclis.)     Paris,  1809. 

Lubbock,  Sm  J. — Prehistoric  Times.     London,  1865. 

Madan,  F. — Books  in  Manuscript.     London,  1893. 

Maskell,  W. — Ivories  Ancient  and  Mediaeval.     London,  1875. 

Maskell,  a. — Ivories.     London,  1904. 

Plott,  E. — Natural  History  of  Staffordshire.  (Clog  almanacks.) 
Oxford,  1(J8G. 

Prescott,  TV.  H.— History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru.  (Qiiipus.) 
London. 

Eeln'aud. — (Description  des  monumens  Musulmanes  du  cabinet 
de  M.  le  Due  de  Blacas.)     (Indian  amulets.)     Paris,  182S. 

Em;TT-CARXAC,  J.  H. — Prehistoric  Kemains  in  Central  India. 
Calcutta. 

Eivett-Carnac,  J.  H. — Ancient  Eock  Sculptures  in  Kamaon. 
Calcutta,  1877. 

Simpson,  Sir  J.  Y.— Archaic  Sculpturings.     Edinburgh,  18(37. 

Smithsoxiax  Eeport,  1879,  p.  389.     (Wampum.) 

Taverxier,  J.  B.— Yoyages.     Paris,  1810. 

Taylor,  I.— The  Alphabet.    London,  1883. 

Thompsox,  Sir  E.  M.— Handbook  of  Greek  and  Eoman  Palaeo- 
graphy.    London,  1893. 

Westwood,  J.  O.— Cat.  of  Fictile  Ivories.     London,  187G. 


CHAPTEE  11. 

ROLLS,    BOOKS    AND    BOOKBINDINGS. 

Eolls  of  papjTus  and  vellum — Quaternions — The  sewing  of  books — 
Headbands — The  rounding  and  backing  of  books — Mediaeval 
books — Irish  cumdachs — Byzantine  bindings — Oriental  books — 
Modern  methods  of  sewing  and  binding. 

The  length  of  ancient  rolls  of  vellum  has  often  puzzled 
bibliophiles.  Eolls  of  narrow  breadth  are  found  16  or  17 
feet  or  more  in  length.  A  learned  scholar  on  being  asked 
how  he  accounted  for  this  extraordinary  length  was  quite 
puzzled,   never  having  realised  that  the  roll  was  in  one 

piece.      The    neck    of 
the  giraffe  seemed  the 
onl}^  possible  solution. 
The  writer  however 

Fig.  16. — Egyptian  papyrus  roll,  with     consulted   a  clever 

mud  seals.  i      j.i  i  n 

leather     worker     and 

gave  him  a  skin  measuring  about  3  feet  by  2,   suggesting 

certain  ways  of  cutting  it.     He   produced   eventually,   by 

wetting,  pulling  and  pinning,  a  beautiful  roll  of  nearl}^  4 

inches  in  breadth  and  16  feet  9  inches  in  length. 

Mediaeval  leather  w'orkers  were  no  doubt  more  skilled 
and  practised  in  this  particular  art  than  anyone  now  is, 
and  the  experiment  showed  that  there  is  really  nothing  out 
of  the  way  in  the  very  long  rolls  which  at  first  sight  seem 
so  surprising. 

Eolls    were    written     upon     in     three  ^ways.      In    the 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


27 


oldest  rolls  the  usual  way  was  to  write  lines  across  the 
breadth  of  the  roll,  which  was  held  uj)right  before  the 
reader,  and  unrolled  from  the  top  downwards. 
A  rare  form  of  writing  upon  rolls  is  that 
found  in  the  prayers  written  on  the  strips 
which  are  rolled  up  inside  Buddhist  prayer 
wheels.  Such  praj^ers,  however,  are  never  read, 
but  are  counted  as  being  read  through  on  each 
revolution  of  the  wheel.  Each  line  of  manu- 
script runs  along  the  entire  length  of  the  roll, 
which  is  unrolled  sideways.  The  prayer  wheels 
vary  immensely  in  size,  the  best  known  being 
the  little  hand  ones  chiefly  used  in  Thibet ; 
they  are  variously  ornamented. 

The  form  of  writing  in  rolls  that  is  of  most 
interest  so  far  as  books  is  concerned  is  a 
modification  of  tlie  Thibetan  form.  In- 
stead of  each  line  running  the  whole 
length  of  the  roll,  a  space  limit  is  now  fixed,  and  the 
lines    of   writing    follow    under  each    other,    so    that   the 

page  form  is  at  once 
apparent.  This  form, 
a  late  one,  can  be 
seen  in  the  case  of  the 
Jewish  scrolls  of  the 
law.  The  roll  is  un- 
rolled sideways,  and  the 
rollers  at  each  end  are  often  very  handsomely  decorated. 

But  writing  of  this  last  kind  on  rolls  has  suggested 
another  arrangement  in  which  the  reading  is  more  easy, 
and  the  re-rolling  of  the  roll  itself  avoided. 


Pig.  17.— 

Eoll  written 

upon    across 

its  shorter 

diameter. 


:? 


Fig.   18.^ — Eoll  written  iipon 
longitudinally. 


28      THE  BOOK:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


It  will  be  seen  that  a  blank  space  is  left  between  each  ot 
the  written  "pages."  Now  if  the  vellum,  bark,  or  paper  be 
folded  across  these  vacant  spaces,  one  after  the  other, 
backwards  and  forwards,  like  accordion 
pleating,  we  shall  find  that  we  get  a  form 
of  book  well  known  in  the  East  and  also 
among  primitive  nations. 

Curious  examples  of  such  converted  rolls 
can  be  seen  in  most  museums,  and  they  are 
generally  kept  flat  by  means  of  two  boards 
front  and  back,  but  not  otherwise  fastened. 
The  Chinese  and  Japanese  have  taken 
this  particular  form  of  evolution  from  the 
roll  to  the  book  a  step  further,  and  by  help 
of  the  ancient  device  of  "stabbing"  the 
flattened  roll  along  one  of  its  sides,  they 
produce  a  form  called  an  "  Orihon,"  easy 
to  consult,  strong,  and  the  blank  back  of  the  roll  so  hidden 
up  that  its  existence  is  frequently  not  realised.  But  if 
some  of  the  leaves  of  an  Orihon  are  cut,  its  real  structure 
becomes  at  once  evi- 
dent, and  a  book  will 
be  produced  with  letter- 
press and  blank  paper 
alternately  in  pairs.  A 
similar  kind  of  alter- 
nation shows  now  and 

then  in  the  case  of  MS.  rolls  that  have  been  cut  up,  but 

they  are  oftener  arranged  letterpress  and  blank  alternately. 

Without  realising   it   we   still   preserve  this  blank  and 

Jetterpress  sequence,  found  in  the  converted  roll,  in  official 


Fig.  19.— Thi- 
betan prayer 
wheel. 


^^F^^ 


Fig.  20. 


-Eoll  written  upon  in  page 
form. 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


29 


and  legal  manuscripts  as  well  as  in  those  intended  for  the 
printer. 

When  the  printing  press  took  the  place  of  the  scribe,  the 
blank  leaves  had  no  further  raisoti  cVctre,  so  they  dropped 
out  for  good. 

Following  the  rule  that  the  forms  of  binding  have  always 
followed  tolerably  closely  the  forms  of  the  manuscript  they 
have  covered,  we  find  that  rolls  were  kept  in  cylindrical 
boxes,  called  "  scrinia."     Eacli  roll  was  usually  provided 


Fig.  21. 


-Siimatran  bark  book  in  the  form 
of  a  folded  roll. 


Fig.  22.— Orrhoii. 


with  a  little  tag,  so  that  if  there  were  several  of  them  in 
one  box  they  could  easily  be  distinguished.  The  same 
sort  of  tags  are  used  to-day  in  the  case  of  rolled  maps  kept 
on  shelves. 

Until  a  late  period  the  term  parchment  must  be  undei"-^ 
stood  to  mean  vellum.  Now  we  call  sheep  skin  "parchment " 
and  calf  skin  "  vellum,"  and  they  are  prepared  in  the  same 
way  with  lime,  so  that  not  being  tanned  they  are  not  strictly 
"  leather."  The  finest  vellum  is  prepared  from  the  very 
youngest  and  smallest  calves,  and  it  is  the  most  beautiful 
and  suitable  material  for  writing  or  printing  upon  that  has 


30      THE   BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

ever  yet  been  found.  The  surface  is  singularly  even  and 
offers  little  or  no  resistance  to  a  pen,  so  that  every  sort  of 
Handwriting,  square  or  round,  is  put  upon  it  with  equal- 
ease.  Vellum  has  one  fault  alone,  particularly  when  l)ound 
in  book  form  as  distinct  from  a  roll,  and  this  is  that  the 
edges  are  apt  to  cockle,  and  by  so  doing  they  not  only  make 
the  pages  look  ugly,  but  they  also  admit  the  dust.  Often 
and  often  magnificent  vellum  books,  especially  at  the  top, 
show  large  Vandykes  of  dust-stained  spaces  due  to  this 
cockling,  and  all  such  books  should  be  provided  with  a  close 
fitting  cardboard  cap,  to  be  kept  upon  them  whenever  they 
are  not  in  use. 

Parchment  and  vellum  were  both  well-known  to  the 
ancients,  but  their  value  as  materials  for  writing  upon  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  fully  acknowledged  until  the  second 
century  b.c,  until  which  period  papyrus  had  held  undis- 
puted pre-eminence  for  that  purpose.  At  that  time  fpr 
some  reason  the  supply  of  papyrus  from  Egypt  ran  short, 
and  Eumenes  II.,  King  of  Pergamum,  successfully  intro- 
duced parchment  in  its  stead.  Parchment  is  so  called 
because  it  was  first  produced  at  Pergamum. 
--jUntil  about  the  fifth  century  a.d.,  vellum  MSS.  were 
in  the  roll  form,  but  then  came  a  change  to  the  book  form 
as  we  now  know  it.  This  change  was  probably  due  to  the 
fact  that  stabbed  binding,  the  only  sort  then  used,  was  not 
suited  to  vellum.  The  few  papyri  that  exist  in  book 
form  were  stabbed,  that  is  to  say,  the  rectangular  pages 
were  kept  in  position  by  a  binding  cord  laced  through  holes 
pierced  sideways  right  through  the  entire  thickness  of  the 
l)ack  of  the  book.  The  marks  of  these  holes  can  often  be 
seen  along  the  inner  margins  of  ancient  papyri,  and  they 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND   BOOKBINDINGS. 


81 


also  show  in  many  instances  of  rebound  copies  of  our  early 
Englisli  printed  books.  To-day  plenty  of  examples  of  this 
form  of  sewing  can  be  seen  in  the  Chinese  and  Japanese 
books,  "Orihons,"  which  are  really  links  between  the  roll 
and  the  book  form.  It  is  also  largely  used  for  thin  books 
of  little  value,  and  a  modification  of  it  can  be  seen  in 
numbers  of  magazines,  books  of  advertisements,'  and  the 
like,  which  are  kept  together  by  abominable  little  clamps  of 
wire  attached  on  the  same  principle.  When  such  books 
have  to  be  properly  bound  the  little  clamps 
have  to  be  carefully  removed,  and  it  is 
generally  found  that  they  have  made  an 
indelible  stain  of  rust  on  the  paper,  even  if 
they  have  not  also  torn  it  considerably. 

In  mediaeval  libraries  or  monasteries  when 
a  book  was  to  be  made,  vellum  leaves  were 
cut  into  the  required  size  and  folded  once 
across  the  middle.     The  folded  leaves  were 
then  fitted  inside  each  other  in  groups  of  four 
(quaternions)  or  five  (quinternions),  or  what- 
ever other  number  seemed  good  to  the  bookmaker.     The 
leaves  were  then  marked  in  some  slight  way  so  that  their 
order  might   not  be   lost,   and    sent  to   the   scribe   to   be 
written  upon. 

The  books  count  as  folios  because  each  original  sheet 
only  forms  two  pages ;  the  fact  of  their  being  arranged  in 
groups  is  accidental,  and  does  not  theoretically  alter  the 
size  of  the  book.  For  this  the  original  skin  of  vellum 
would  have  to  be  folded  with  certain  further  divisions,  and 
in  the  case  of  early  manuscripts  this  was'  never  done. 

Yellum  shows  a  different  surface  on  the  flesh  side  to  that 


Fig.  23.- 
Stabbed 
binding:. 


32      THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


on  tlie  hair  side,  and  the  scribe  usually  made  his  rule 
marks  with  a  blunt  style  to  guide  his  writing  on  the  hair 
side,  so  that  on  this  side  the  ruled  lines  are  slightly 
indented,  whereas  on  the  flesh  side  they  show  as  little 
ridges. 

This  point  is  apparently  trivial,  but  if,  as  seems  likely, 
both  Greek  and  Latin  scribes  were  really  very  particular 
and  consistent  in  the  way  they  alternated  the  two  sides  of 
the  vellum,  then  the  matter  becomes  one  of  much  critical 
importance.     Ind^eed,  it  has  already  been  of   the  utmost 

value  in  deciding  questions 
as  to  whether  new  pages  had 
been  added  or  not  to  an  old 
book. 

When  the  scribe  had  made 
his  rulings  he  then  doubled 
up  his  sheets  once,  and 
arranged  them  as  he  desired 
with  regard  to  the  hair  or 
flesh  sides.  When  a  section  of  four  sheets  were  fitted  into 
each  other,  so  that  when  pressed  together  they  made  a 
solid  gathering,  such  a  gathering  is  called  a  "  Quaternion," 
from  which  term  we  derive  our  word  "  Quire."  This  is  a 
normal  state  of  things,  but  it  is  obvious  that  abnormal 
arrangements  might  easily  be  made,  from  the  insertion  of  a 
single  leaf  to  that  of  an  entirely  additional  section. 

Now  the  question  arose  of  how  best  to  fasten  the  quater- 
nions together,  not  only  as  to  themselves  but  also  as  to 
the  other  (piaternions,  which  togetlier  formed  the  entire 
book. 

As  to  the  quaternion  itself,  it  must  have  been  evident  at 


Fig.   2-1. — Quaternion  threaded 
together. 


EOLLS,   BOOKS  AND   BOOKBINDINGS. 


33 


once  that  a  stitch  of  thread  or  fibre  run  from  the  innermost 
fold  right  through  to  the  outermost  would  hold  the  leaves 
firmly  together.  It  is  likely  enough  that  this  was  done 
separately  at  first,  and  then  the  binder  would  have  looked 
at  a  small  heap  of  such  gatherings  wondering  how  best  to 
keep  them  together,  and  it  would  soon  occur  to  any  con- 
structive mind  to  knot  the  loose  ends  of  the  threads 
together,  or  else  to  supply  a  supplementary  cord  or  cords 
laid  at  right  angles  to  the  back  of  the  sections  on  which 
the  projecting  ends  of  the  threads  might  be  tied  or  sewn. 
This,  in  fact,  was  done,  and  very  shortly  the  best  way  of 


Fig.  25. — Four  threaded 
quaternions  ready  to  be 
tied  together. 


Fig.  26. — Four  threaded 
quaternions  tied  on  to 
transverse  bands. 


fastening  the  sections  on  to  such  cords  or  threads  was  hit 
upon — a  method  indeed  that  we  have  never  bettered,  and 
which  can  still  be  found  in  the  work  of  many  of  our  best 
modern  binders. 

At  first  this  fastening  together  of  the  sections  of  a  book 
was  no  doubt  done  uncomfortably  and  roughly  by  hand,  but 
it  soon  became  evident  that  some  simple  device  in  the  form 
of  a  skeleton  frame  might  be  contrived  which  would  render 
the  operations  of  sewing  and  binding  much  easier.  Not 
only  easier  to  execute  but  also  giving  a  more  regular  and 
workmanlike  result, 
^'he  earliest  known  sewing  frames  were  the  same  as  are 

T.B  D 


:m      the   BOOK:    ITS   IIISToHY   AM)    DIIVKLOI'MKNT 


used  now.  There  are  two  Ktroiig  coluiiins  of  wood  fixed  on 
a  broad  platform,  with  a  slot  between  their  bases.  From 
capital  to  capital  extends  a  Ijar,  and  the  strips  of  leather, 
vellum,  or  hempen  cords  which  are  to  form  the  bands  of 
the  book  are  looped  upon  it,  and  are  kept  taut  by  means 
of  metal  kc3'S  attached  to  the  other  end,  which  lock  into  the 
slot  at  tlie  bottom.      The  bands  can  be  (piite  easily  adjusted 

to  any  space  the  worker 
desires. 

The  book,  ready  for 
sewing  and  in  proper 
order  of  sections,  is  laid 
near  the  worker's  hand, 
and  he,  or  she,  lakes  it 
up  by  sections,  one  at  a 
time.  The  section  to  be 
worked  upon  is  laid 
downwards  on  the  little 
platform,  with  its  back  close  against  the  bands,  and  the 
worker's  left  hand  keeps  the  section  open  in  the  middle, 
while  with  the  right  hand  a  thread  is  drawn  through  the 
back  fold,  from  the  inside  to  the  outside,  round  the  band, 
and  then  back  from  the  outside  to  the  inside,  and  so  on  until 
all  the  bands  have  been  caught  round.  Then  to  end  up, 
the  thread  is  passed  through  near  the  extreme  end  of  the 
fold  and  knotted,  forming  what  is  called  a  "  kettle  stitch," 
and  from  this  point  the  whole  operation  is  repeated,  back- 
wards, with  the  next  section.  It  sounds  complicated,  but 
is  not  so  really,  and  several  sections  could  have  been  sewn 
fogetlier  in  the  time  that  it  has  taken  me  to  describe  the 
sewing  of  one  of  them. 


Fig. 


-Motlern  haud-sewing  i)i-ess. 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS.  35 

Now  comes  an  interesting  i)oint,  and  that  is  the  exact 

way  in  which  the  threads  are  passed  over  the  hands.     We 

will  lirst  see  that  if  the  thread  is  drawn  through  the  hack 

fold  of   the  section,  round  a  hand  and  hack  again  through 

another  hole,  that  there  is  a  weak  construction,  inasmuch 

as  the  thread  will  have  a  strong  tendency  to  cut  through 

the  paper  at  a  and  h,  because  there  is  in  each  case  a  side 

strain.      It   therefore 

seemed  necessary  that      ^  ,ci:)\  ^ 

the     thread      should        i.,„  .,o     ^^,„^.  ,      , 

riG.  zb. — faulty  sewing  over  a  baud. 

make  its  return  jour- 
ney hy  the  same  hole  through  which  it  emerged,  hut  if 
simply  done,  this  did  not  mend  matters  much,  as  the  strain 
still  tended  to  pull  this  hole  open  wider.  A  line  of  exit  and 
entrance  without  any  side  pull  was  needed,  and  this  was 
found  hy  means  of  a  very  clever  device.  A  broad  band  of 
leather  or  vellum  was  cut  through  lengthways,  leaving  a 
solid  piece  at  each  end. 
Now  when  the  sewer  came  to  this  band  he  ran  the  thread 

straight  through  the  slot,  then 
(^^y^ brought    it    round    the    entire 

band,  under  it,  between  it  and 

Fig.  i29.-Medi;Teval  sewing        the  back  of  the  book,  and  down 
roviiid  double  band.  •        i       i       i 

agani,   back   through   the    slot, 

and  in  at  the  same  point  from  which  it  emerged.     The  result 

of  this  is  that  there  is  no  strain  at  all  on  the  needle  hole 

through  which  the  thread  passes,  as  the  pull  is  quite  straight 

both   coming   and    going.      This  is  undoubtedly  the  best 

form  of  sewing  a  book  on  bands,  and  a  book  so  treated  is 

said  to  be  sewn  on  "double  bands."     But  our  recent  work 

is  not  always  true,  although  from  the  outside  it  aj^pears 

D  2 


■■Ui        I'lll':    r.OoK:    ITS    IIIS'IOKN'    .\\l»    I  )|;VI;L(  »I'MKNT. 

correct,  hecaiise  in  imnihftrs  of  CiiKes  kucIi  douMe  l>an(lH 
are  Kim])ly  f^'Ined  on  tlie  oiitKide  of  the  ])ack,  the  real 
Kewin<^,  of  a  very  inferioi'  kind,  poHsiMy  (;veii  done  hy 
machinery,  heing  hidden  underneath  the  leather.  Few 
great  hinders  excei)t  Charles  Lewis  iiave  ever  used  sham 
hands. 

Flexihle  sewn  hooks  can  Ix;  iiad  now  if  wanted,  hiit  the 
sewing  on  the  hands  is  not  quite  the  same  as  the  fine 
medi.Tval  douhle  l)and8  I  have  descrihed.  It  is,  however, 
l)ractically  nearly  as  good,  and  the  hands  themselves  can 
he  made  smaller. 

The  modern  method  is  to  hring  the  needle  and  thread 
through  the  hack  of  the  section  as 

(Q_ usual,  then  give  it  one  turn  onwards 

over  the  band  and  hack  again  through 

Fl(i.    30.  — ^Eodeni    sew-         ,  i     i  tj.       -n    i  l\     i. 

in"  round  sin-le  band.  ^'^^  same  hole.  Jt  will  he  seen  that 
this  is  a  thoroughly  sound  principle, 
and  brings  no  strain  upon  the  back  of  the  section. 

The  ends  of  the  hands  of  limp  vellum  books  have  always 
been  treated  in  the  same  way  ;  they  are  drawn  straight 
through  the  vellum  at  the  joint  and  then  back  again  and 
fastened  inside  by  means  of  the  end  paper. 

The  manner  of  drawing  the  bands  of  a  "  limp  "  vellum 
bound  book  through  the  limp  vellum  cover  is  of  much 
interest,  and  it  survives  in  man}'  instances  where  boards 
are  used. 

In  principle  it  is  the  same  process  as  is  described  further 
on  with  regard  to  boarded  books,  but  in  the  case  of  the 
limp  vellum  bindings  the  ends  of  the  bands  are  normally 
visible  for  a  short  length,  but  in  the  case  of  boarded  books 
they  are  always  covered  up  with  the  exception  of  some 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AKB  BOOKBIXDIXGS.  37 

vellum-covered  boarded  books  in  which  the  limp  vellum 
peculiarity  is  preserved. 

Another  small  point  of  interest  about  the  old  limp 
vellum  bindings  is  that  the  head  and  tail  bands  are  made 
of  the  same  sort  of  thin  veUum  strip  as  the  main  l)ands 
and  carefully  drawn  diagonally  through  the  vellum  at  the 
corners  and  fastened  inside.  Dealt  with  in  this  way  the 
head  band  becomes  of  real  structural  value,  much  of  which 
is  lost  if  it  is  cut  off  short  as  is  done  in  the  large  majority 
s.  of  cases. 

William  Morris  liked  limp  vellum  bindings  and  often 
used  them,  but  without  head  bands.  Instead  of  the  short 
strips  of  vellum  used  for  bands  in  old  books  Morris  used 
specially  prepared  silk  tapes,  and  brought  them  through 
the  vellum  at  the  joint  in  the  old-fashioned  way.  Instead 
of  being  cut  short  and  pasted  down  as  the  old  limp  vellum 
bands  were,  Morris  continued  his  tapes  and  brought  them 
out  again  near  the  front  edge  of  the  vellum,  where  they 
could  be  tied.  This  is  an  excellent  arrangement  and 
keeps  such  a  book  together  in  an  admirable  and  effective 
way. 

Vellum  bindings  required  tlat  backs  because  the  material 
would  not  yield  sufficiently  to  be  tucked  round  the 
projecting  bands  of  a  normal  flexible  bound  book,  in  which 
the  leather  back  is  lirmly  fixed  over  the  bands.  Nevertheless 
in  several  instances  old  vellum  books,  in  boards,  which  have 
been  sewn  on  raised  bands  show  traces  of  these  bands  in  low 
I'elief  across  the  back.  In  such  cases  it  is  common  to  find 
that  some  padding  has  been  put  in  the  spaces  between  the 
bunds  so  as  to  level  the  back  up.  Books  treated  in  this  way 
are  usually  stilT  to  open  and  uncomfortaljle  to  consult. 


;is      TIIl'^   1U)()K:    ITS   HISTOID   AND    I »KVHLOPMKXT. 

The  Hat  back,  which  was  iieceKsary  for  the  Hanie  reanon 
m  the  case  of  l)Ooks  l)Oun(l  at  a  hxter  date  in  velvet,  cloth, 
silk  or  canvas,  necessitated  some  modification  of  the  thick 
projecting'  hands  of  Ihc  ordinary  hook,  and  the  requisite 
flatness  was  attained  hy  usin^  strips  of  vellum  or  tape 
instead  of  cords  of  hemp.  Then  it  was  found  that  it 
was  not  necessary  to  fasten  the  hack  of  the  cover  to  the 
back  of  the  sections,  so  the  "hollow  back"  came  iiUo 
existence. 

The  majority  of  modern  books  are  bound  with   hollow 

backs  ;  it  can  be  recognised  by 
oi)ening  a  book  to  the  full 
and  seeing  if  the  back  is  sepa- 
rate, and  it  has  one  real  virtue 

Fig.     yi.  —  Book    bound     witli  n  i       •  t* 

"opon"  or  "hollow"  back,  ^^  ^'^^^  ^«  Several  vices.  If  a 
and  modern  headband,  cut  off  book  should  happen  tO  be 
at  each  end. 

prnited  too  far  ])ack,  a  hollow 

back  binding  will  enable  it  to  "  throw  up,"  and  show  the 

printing  right  down  to  the  inner  edge  of  the  paper,  whereas 

a  flexible  binding  always  tends  to  open  less  freely,  especially 

in  the  middle. 

For  books  that  are  likely  to  be  much  used  hollow  backs 
are  unadvisable  as  they  are  sooner  worn  out,  but  for  small 
light  books  there  is  no  doubt  much  to  be  said  in  their 
favour. 

Among  English  binders  of  note  I  think  Charles  Lewis 
was  the  first  to  use  hollow  backs  extensively.  But  for 
fine  books  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  old-fashioned 
flexible  sewing  on  raised  bands  is  the  best  in  the  long 
run.  Books  bound  with  hollow  backs  often  have  the 
bands    "  sawn   in,"  that    is    to  say,    a  trench    is    cut    for 


ROLLS,  BOOKS  AXD  BOOKBINDINGS. 


lid 


each  band  across  the  back  of  the  sections.  In  these 
trenches  the  bands  are  laid,  and  the  sewing  is  of  a  simpler 
and  quicker  sort  than  it  is  when  the  thread  is  brought 
round  each  band  as  it  is  in  the  flexible  style.  Moreover, 
there  is  a  weak  point  where  the  thread  touches  the  edge  of 
the  saw  cut,  and  at  this  place  the  paper  is  always  apt  to 
give.  It  is  obvious  that  to  cut  away  paper  from  the  back 
of  a  section  must  always  be  not  only  a  barbarism  but  also 
structurally  wrong.  Such  a  method  of  sewing  a  book  can 
only  be  excused  on  the  score 
of  cheapness,  and  it  may  be 
urged  that  in  this  case  it  does 
not  matter. 

^\4^owards  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century  it  was  found 
that  the  extreme  tops  and 
bottoms  of  tbe  l)acks  of  the 
sections  of  bound  ])Ooks 
not  only  looked  untidy  and 
unfinished,  but  also  that  they  tended  to  gape,  in  fact  they 
were  weak  points  both  structurally  and  artistically.  AVhen 
it  was  once  realised  it.  was  soon  rectified,  and  a  small 
additional  band  was  made  of  a  strip  of  leather  or  vellum, 
to  lit  along  the  outer  edge  of  the  top  and  bottom  at 
the  back.  This  slip  was  then  sewn  on  by  means  of 
thread  and  button-hole  stitching,  being  caught  in  at 
intervals  by  a  long  stitch  drawn  through  the  centre  of 
one  or  other  of  the  sections  of  tiie  l)Ook.  The  loose 
ends  of  the  headband  itself  were  drawn  in  to  the 
boards,  forming  in  fact  an  additional  band.  The  head- 
band   is    a    point    in    the    forwarding    of    a    l)Ook    whicli 


Fi(i.  o'2. — Back  of  book  prepared 
witli  cut  trenches  to  hold  the 
bands. 


40      Till-]   r,OOIv:   ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

has  not  received  much  notice  as  yet,  but  it  is  of  some 
importance,  as  there  is  no  doubt  that  much  attention  has 
been  paid  by  binders  to  the  ornamentation  of  lieadbands 


Fig.  33. — French  sixteenth 
ceuturv  headband. 


Fig.  34. — Italian  fifteenth 
century  headband. 


Fig.  35. — German    fifteenth 
century  headband. 


Fig.  36. — English  .seventeenth 
century  headband. 


Fig.  37. — English  eighteenth 
century  headband,  by 
Roger  Payne. 


Fig.  38. — English  nineteenth 
century  headband,  by 
Charles  Lewis. 


from  mediseval  times  until  now,  and  it  is  the  first  point  in 
the  binding  of  a  book  in  which  ornament  is  considered. 

Some  of  the  early  headbands  are  sewn  over  with  strips 
of  soft  leather,  and  at  a  later  time  they  are  cut  in  distinctive 
ways,  liat  or  round,  and  sewn  over  with  silks  of  particular 
colours  or  combinations  of  colours. 

Of    late  years  the  vice  of   cutting  off  the  ends  of  the 


HOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


41 


Fig.  39.— What  a 
book  may  do  if  the 
buck  is  not  projierly 
rounded. 


headband  has  come  into  being ;  these  ends  ought  to  be 
drawn  properly  into  the  boards,  as  Mr.  Donglas  Cockerell 
has  indeed  done  for  me  in  several  instances.  But  no  words 
can  adequately  condemn  the  miserable  ready-made  coloured 
slii3s  which  are  often  found  simply 
stuck  on  in  the  proper  place. 

Vellum  books  were  the  first  to  be 
properly  bound.  The  papyri  which 
were  stabbed  are  so  rare  that  they  may 
be  passed  bj'.  As  I  have  already  said, 
vellum  is  apt  to  be  curly  ;  for  this  reason 
the  boards  used  for  binding  in  early 
days  were  made  of  thick  wood,  the  heaviness  of  which, 
even  when  unaided  by  clasps,  tended  to  keep  the  vellum 
flat. 

Beech  wood  was  largely  used  for  these  old  covers,  and 
from  the  German  word  "  Buch,"  meaning  beech,  we  derive 

our  word  "  book."  Beechen  boards 
were  liglit,  decorative,  and  very 
carefully  dried  and  seasoned.  It 
is  remarkable  how  flat  such  old 
boards  are,  and  they  were  no  doubt 
very  highly  valued  as  they  often 
have  upon  them  the  stamp  of  the 
monastery  in  which  they  were  used. 
The  edges  of  the  boards  are  sometimes  bevelled,  from 
the  upper  side  in  English  or  French  books,  and  from  the 
under  side  in  German  books — but  such  a  distinction  must 
not  be  taken  as  invariable.  Boards  often  show  signs  of 
having  been  used  more  than  once,  and  it  is  rarely  that  any 
decoration  shows  on  the  ^vood.     In  a  few  cases  of  German 


Fig.  40. 


-B«(jk  with 
back. 


flat 


I/' 


42      THE  BOOK:   ITS   lllSTOllY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


Fig.  41.— Book  with  flat 
back  falling  in. 


books    may    be    found    outline    drawings    of    an    beraldic 
nature. 

The  first  bound  books  were  made  with  flat  backs,  and  the 
boards  fitted  close  upon  the  outer  sheets  of  vellum,  papyrus 

or  paper.  In  this  formation,  how- 
ever, it  was  found  that  there  was 
a  strong  liability  for  the  back  to 
fall  in  and  the  foredge  to  project 
outwards. 

As  early  as  the  fifteenth  century, 
in  the  case  of  printed  books  on 
paper,  this  fault  of  the  back  falling 
in  led  some  few  binders  to  neutrahse  it  by  giving  the  back 
of  the  book  a  rounded  form  by  means  of  hammering,  and 
this  quite  prevented  the  falling  in  of  the  back.  The  exact 
extent  of  the  rounding  can  easily  be  seen  by  looking  at  the 
front  edge  of  a  book,  because  the  curves  of  the  back  and  front 
correspond.  The  boards,  however, 
remained  in  their  first  position, 
flat  on  the  outer  sheets. 

But  another  trouble  was  appa- 
rent in  both  these  cases,  namely, 
that  when  such  books  were  opened, 
the  joint  between  the  boards  and 
the  back  showed  a  tendency  to  pull 
up  the  few  pages  next  adjacent, 
became  torn  and  injured,  and  constructively  there  was  some- 
thing wrong  with  the  principle  of  attachment. 

Paper  is  soft,  and  when  a  "rounded"  book  was  fitted 
with  hard  boards  and  strongly  pressed  there  would  be  a 
certain  tendency  for  the  boards  to  sink  into  the  mass  of  the 


Fig.   42.— Book   with 
rounded  back. 


In   time   these   pages 


nOLLS,  BOOKS  .\ND  BOOKBINDIXGS. 


43 


Fig.  43. — Book  with  back 
rounded  and  backed. 


paper  and  to  throw  up  a  small  ridge  along  the  edge  of  the 
back.  Such  a  small  accidental  ridge  is  often  found  on  old 
paper  books. 

But  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  actual  process  of  making 
an  intentional  groove  for  the  boards 
to  fit  in  was  practised  by  a  few 
fifteenth  centur}'  binders  in  Eng- 
land. This  groove  is  made  by  an 
extension  of  the  process  of  round- 
ing the  back,  and  it  is  produced  by 
hammering  the  back  over  two  hard 
boards    carefully    placed    in     the 

proper  position.  The  shape  of  a  back  thus  treated  is 
theoretically  as  shown  in  Fig.  44,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
actual  joint  now  falls  away  from  the  body  of  the  book  and  is 

removed  to  the  artificial  line  along 
the  outer  edge  of  the  groove,  and 
from  this  line  the  projecting  bands 
are  drawn  in  to  the  boards.    If  this 
operation  of  "  backing  "  is  properly 
done  it  is  almost  impossible  for  the 
back  of  a  book  to  fall  in.     It  will 
always  open  easily  and  return  to  its 
original  form,  and  if  the  bands  are 
properly  attached  to  the    boards, 
the  latter  will  never  fall  off. 
Although   the  principle   of   backing  was  known  at   the 
early  time  mentioned,  it  was  not  universally  understood 
and  practised  until  quite  recent  times.     Now,  however,  it  is 
fully  recognised  as  one  of  the  most  important  processes  in 
the  binding  of  books,  especially  large  ones. 


Fig.  44. — Book  rounded 
and  backed,  before  the 
boards  are  put  on. 


•11      Tin-:   IJOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMKXT. 


We  have  seen  that  the  hook  howh  in  leather  bands  has 
the  ends  of  these  hands  left  loose,  projecting  in  the  ease  of 
a  large  hook  some  two  or  three  inches.  Holes  were  now 
carefully  cut  along  the  hack  edge  of  the  hoard  to  fit  the 
ends  of  the  hiiiids,  sloping  upwards,  and  some  little  way  in 
other  slots  were  cut  from  the  ui)per  surface  of  the  hoard  to 
meet  them.  Into  these  holes  the  ends  of  the  bands  were 
drawn,  and  when  in  proi)er  position  they  were  pegged 
down  with  one  or  more  small  wooden  pegs.  Sometimes  the 
bands  were  drawn  right  through  the  boards  and  fastened 
inside.  Numbers  and  numbers  of  in- 
stances of  this  work  exist  and  are  quite 
sound  to-diiy.  ]jut  such  boolcs  do  not 
open  satisfactorily,  as  there  is  a  disagree- 
able pull  upon  the  outer  sections  when 
the  book  is  opened.  In  fact,  the  junc- 
tion l)etween  the  bands  and  the  boards 
is  not  scientifically  correct,  because  the 
backs  are  not  rounded. 

The  vulneral)le  part  of  the  binding 
w'ill  now  be  seen  to  be  the  soft  threads  which  cover  the 
bands  where  they  adjoin  the  back  of  the  sections  of  the 
book,  and  to  protect  these  delicate  threads  a  strip  of  leather 
was  cut,  damped  and  pressed  over  the  bands  so  as  to  fit 
quite  closely,  and  fastened  on  with  glue,  projecting  a  short 
wa}^  over  on  to  the  board  itself  so  as  to  cover  up  the  holes 
used  for  the  bands.  This  is  called  a  "  half-binding."  On 
the  leather  of  such  half-bindings  there  is  usually  some 
blind  tooling,  lines  or  rolls  or  even  small  cameo  stamps. 

Mediaeval  bindings  are  commonly  provided  with  clasps. 
The  original  reason  of  this  was  to  help  to  keep  the  velUim 


Fig.   45.— Half- 
bound  book. 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBIXDINGS. 


45 


leaves  flat,  but  of  course  artistic  binders  saw  that  clasps 
might  be  made  very  ornamental,  and  so  many  of  them  are. 
They  have  survived  as  ornamental  adjuncts  to  a  binding 
until  the  present  day,  although  there  is  no  necessity  for 
them. 

Bosses  in  the  centre  and  at  the  corners  of  mediaeval 
bindings  were  of  structural  use,  as  they  protected  the 
actual  boards  of  the  book  from  wear.  In  early  days  books 
were  kept  upon  their  sides  and  pro- 
l)ably  had  flat  boards  between  each 
volume.  So  the  bosses  took  the 
wear  and  preserved  the  books. 
Many  of  the  mediaeval  bosses  and 
corners  have  ornamental  settings; 
they  are  generally  of  brass,  but 
sometimes  of  silver  or  wood.  The 
titles  of  such  books  were  sometimes 
written  on  the  front  edges  and  some- 
times on  a  slip  of  paper  fastened 
under  horn  on  the  upper  board,  and 
in  the  late  fifteenth  century  they  were  sometimes  lettered 
in  gold  or  blind,  also  on  the  boards. 

It  happened  that  the  art  of  Byzantium  was  in  its 
prime  just  about  the  same  time  that  vellum  began  to  be 
arranged  in  sections — in  book  form — in  contradistinction 
to  the  roll  form.  So  we  find  some  of  the  finest  examples 
of  Byzantine  art  on  bookbindings.  Of  course  it  must  be 
understood  that  these  richly  worked  covers  are  only 
ornamentally  added  to  the  true  binding  underneath,  and  the 
actual  work  of  the  binding  is  more  or  less  as  I  have  already 
described  it.     But  the  decorative  art  in  these  cases  is  so 


Fig.  46. — Mediaeval  book 
with  bosses,  comer 
pieces  aud  clasps. 


4(i      THE    r.ooK:    ITS    HISTORY   AXD   DF.VELOPMENT. 


predominant  that  they  are  generically  known  as  "Byzantine" 
bindings. 

The  large  majority  of  the  known  specimens  of  this  kind 
are  no  longer  in  company  with  their  original  manuscripts. 
Many  of  them  are  preserved  simply  as  loose  covers,  and 
alien  manuscripts  have  been  inserted  in  others.  I  expect 
that  there  are  still  considerable  numbers  of  these  bindings 
preserved  in  remote  churches  and  monasteries  in  Central 

Europe,  and  some  day  perhaps  some 
traveller  with  sufficient  knowledge 
and  time  at  his  command  will  make 
search  for  them.     But  for  the  pre- 
sent fine  and  genuine  examples  of 
Byzantine    bindings    are    of    great 
rarit3\      It  is  said  that  there  are 
not  more  than  about  three  hundred 
of   them   known.     The  life  history 
of  many  of  these  is  well  known,  and 
so  are  many  of  the  additions  and 
^'of  ^aw'Vhrel'evenJS    alterations  to  which  they  have  been 
century,  with  cabochou     subjected    during   their    long    life. 
Luckily  some  of  the  finest  are  now 
safely  housed  in    our  London  museums,  and   others  are, 
or  are  likely  to  be,  safe  in  a  great  local  museum. 

To  be  able  to  judge  whether  these  bindings  are  genuine, 
a  librarian  must  be  an  antiquary,  a  goldsmith  and  silver- 
smith, skilled  both  in  repousse  work,  engraving  and  cast 
work,  a  gem  cutter,  an  enameller,  a  skilled  bookbinder,  and 
an  artist,  and  if  he  fails  in  one  of  these  knowledges  his 
judgment  cannot  be  relied  on.  An  ordinary  art  critic  who 
possesses   "Flaire"    can    pick    up    a   certain   amount    of 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


47 


knowledge  by  reason  of  having  made  many  mistakes  and 
profited  by  them,  and  if  he  has  been  fortunately  able  to 
associate  himself  only  with  true  and  known  fine  examples 
for  a  long  time,  he  may  eventually  be  a  good  giiesser.  But 
no  true  judgment  can  be  given  without  actual  technical 
knowledge. 

The  result  of  all  this  is,  that  collectors  of  such  bindings 
have  been  freely  victimised.  It  is 
not  really  diflticult  to  copy  or  to 
imitate  a  Byzantine  binding — it  is 
not  nearly  so  difficult  as  to  counter- 
feit a  fine  Le  Gascon  or  a  fine 
Roger  Payne.  It  does  not  so  much 
concern  the  binder  as  the  metal 
worker,  and  in  metal  a  little  skill 
goes  a  long  way,  and  so  it  does  in 
the  cloisonne  enamel  work  which 
alone  is  found  in  these  bindings. 
The  present  market  price  of  a  very 
fine  Byzantine  binding — a  known 
one — will  run  into  five  figures,  so 
it  is  little  to  be  wondered  at  that 
it  pays  the  cleyei'  faussaires  of  the  Continent  to  direct  their 
attention  to  covers  of  this  kind.  They  need  not  even  take 
the  trouble  to  provide  manuscripts  for  the  inside;  loose 
covers  will  hell  with  equal  readiness. 

Ivory  carving  played  an  important  part  on  early  bindings. 
Apart  from  diptychs,  the  earliest  known  decorative  binding 
consists  of  plaques  of  ivory  carved  with  Biblical  scenes, 
and  having  in  the  centre  a  lamb  within  a  wreath  of 
cloisonne  work,  with  inlays  of  coloured  glass.     It  is  now 


Fig.  48. — French  Liiitling 
of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury with  enamels. 


48      THE   BOOK:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

kept  in  the  cathedral  treasury  at  Milan,  and  is  without  its 
original  inside;  it  is  attributed  to  the  iifth  century. 
/     Early  Irish   manuscripts   were   usually  l)ound   in   quiti; 
simple  limp  leather  covers,  hut  these  were  kept  in   hook 


Fig.  49. — The  upper  cover  of  the  Cumdach  of  the  Stowe 
Missal. 

boxes  or  "  Cumdachs,"  all  of  which  still  existing  are  of  the 
greatest  interest. 

One  of  the  finest  is  that  of  the  Stowe  Missal,  dating  from 
about  the  eleventh  century.  It  belonged  originally  to  the 
monastery  of  Lorrha  in  Tipperary,  whence  it  was  taken  to 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBIXDIXGS.  49 

the  Irish  monastery  of  Eatisbon.  In  1784  it  was  found  by 
Mr.  John  Grace  in  Austria,  and  afterwards  belonged  to  the 
Stowe  Library,  and  Lord  Ashburnham,  from  whom  it  was 
purchased  by  the  nation  in  1883  with  the  rest  of  his  library, 
and  then  deposited  in  the  museum  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy. 

The  lid  is  ornamented  with  a  large  cross  set  with  pearls 
and  metal  bosses,  having  in  the  centre  a  large  oval  crystal 
over  a  pink  ground,  and  enclosed  with  recent  enamels,  no 
doul)t  replacing  old  ones.  At  each  end  of  the  cross  is  a 
large  jewel.  The  spaces  between  the  arms  of  the  cross 
contain  silver  gilt  plates  engraved  with  figures  of  Saints, 
and  on  the  silver  edge  plates  is  an  inscription  in  Irish 
inviting  the  reader  to  "  Pray  for  Dunchad  descendant  of 
Taccan  of  the  family  of  Cluan  who  made  this."  This  may 
therefore  be  called  the  earliest  signed  binding  in  the  world, 
if  a  cumdach  can  be  considered  a  binding.  No  doubt 
much  of  the  work  now  on  this  lid,  as  well  as  some  of  the 
jewels  and  their  settings,  have  been  added  since  the  original 
work  was  made. 

The  base  of  the  box  has  a  similar  ornamentation  upon  it, 
but  the  jewels  and  enamels  are  all  gone,  the  spaces  between 
the  arms  of  the  cross  being  filled  with  silver  plates  cut  into 
an  open  pattern  set  over  bronze  gilt. 

The  sides  of  the  box  are  much  destroyed,  but  they  have 
fortunately  not  been  restored.  The  ornamentation  consists 
of  enamelled  bosses  or  curious  castings  in  the  centre  of 
each  side,  tianked  by  panels  of  open  designs  cut  out  of  thin 
silver  over  gilt,  and  corner  ornaments  of  cast  work.  There 
are  small  bosses  of  blue  enamel. 

The  remarkable  open  work  over  gilt  bronze  occurs  again 

T.B.  E 


50      THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

in  ilie  base  of  the  cumdacli  containing  Molaise  gospels,  it 
also  belongs  to  the  eleventh  century,  and  this  sort  of  orna- 
mentation seems  to  be  characteristic  of  Irish  work  of  that 
time.  The  lid  of  the  box  is  ornamented  in  a  modification 
of  the  same  idea,  but  in  this  case  the  bronze  showing 
through  the  silver  is  beautifully  worked.  The  main  idea 
is  a  cross,  and  between  the  arms  are  the  evangelistic 
emblems,  and  with  their  names,  Leo,  Aquila,  Homo, 
Taurus.  An  inscrii)tion  asks  us  to  "  Pray  for  Cenn,  for 
the  successor  of  Molaise  for  whom  this  case  was  made  by 
Gillabailhain  the  artisan."  It  is  possible  that  this  may  be 
a  little  earlier  than  the  Stowe  cumdach. 

A  few  more  cumdachs  are  known,  about  ten  of  them 
altogether,  and  others  are  recorded  only. 

There  is  that  of  Dimma's  book,  of  the  Cathach  of  the 
O'Donnell's,  and  several  others,  some  of  which  are  quite 
plain. 

Other  book  cases  were  made  of  beautifully  worked  leather. 
The  satchel  of  the  Book  of  Armagh  is  one  of  these,  and 
leather  cases  or  "  Forels  "  were  made  of  cuirbouilli  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries,  particularly  in  Italy. 
These  forels  were  in  the  shape  now  known  as  "  slip  off " 
cases,  and  they  generally  had  attachments  for  a  strap. 
They  are  always  charmingly  chased,  and  often  bear 
heraldic  ornamentation. 

Cuirbouilli  was  calf  or  hide,  worked  with  knife,  style,  or 
hammer,  and  then  probably  boiled  in  oil,  but  the  exact 
process  that  was  used  is  now  unknown.  It  is  very  strong, 
and  its  value  was  known  in  England,  where  it  was  used  to 
make  wrist  guards  for  archery,  but  as  far  as  I  know  it  was 
never   used    here   for  bindings  or  covers  for  bindings.     I 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS.  51 

have  heard  the  calf  or  sheep  hin dings  of  the  early  sixteenth 
century,  bearing  panel  stamps,  described  as  cuirbouilli,  but 
they  are  not  so. 

The  earliest  cover  still  containing  its  original  manuscript 
is  probably  that  given  with  other  treasure  to  Theodelinda, 
Queen  of  the  Lombards,  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great,  in 
the  seventh  century.  It  is  now  kept  in  the  cathedral 
treasury  at  Monza. 

The  manuscript  is  described  in  a  contemporary  document 
as  being  "  theca  persica  inclusam,"  and,  so  far,  its  cover 
resembles  the  Irish  cumdachs.  The  case  is  of  gold,  orna- 
mented with  a  large  cross,  outlined  with  lines  of  small  tiat 
garnets,  with  sapphires  and  emeralds,  set  in  cloisons.  The 
body  of  the  cross  is  richly  jewelled  with  cabochon  cut  stones 
and  pearls,  and  at  the  extremity  of  each  arm  is  a  curious 
glass  bead  of  milletiori  glass,  green  with  a  little  red  iiower 
in  the  centre. 

Between  the  arms  of  the  cross  are  four  gamma  shaped 
ornaments,  each  set  with  small  flat  jewels.  Across  the 
sides  are  bands  of  gold  on  which  are  engraved  the  words 
De  Donis  Dei   offerit  Theodelenda   reg.   gloriosissima 

SANCTO  JOANNI  BaPTISTE    IN  BaSILICA   QUEM   IPSA    FUNDAVIT  IN 

MoDiciA  prope  palatium  suum.  a  handsome  border  with 
flat  garnets  enclosed  the  whole,  and  the  four  cameos  set 
near  the  gammas  are  a  recent  addition.  Byzantine  art  is 
generally  considered  as  a  decadent  form  of  Pioman  art,  but 
in  this  particular  instance  there  is  much  Greek  feeling,  and 
it  is  in  all  respects,  excepting  perhaps  the  inscription,  a 
magnificent  piece  of  work. 

The  binding  of  the  Gospels  of  Lindau  has  now  two 
sides  of  different  dates,  each   of  whicli  has  been   repaired 

e  2 


THE  BOOK:   ITS  IIISTOEY  ^IND  DEVELOPMENT, 


and  added  to  in  recent  times.  The  earlier  of  the  two,  far  the 
finer,  is  probably  contemporary  with  the  manuscript,  having 
been  made  about  the  later  half  of  the  ninth  century,  as  the 
Abbey  of  the  Noble  Canonesses  at  Lindau  was  founded  by 
the  Emperor  Lewis  the  Pious  in  a.d.  834.  A  large  golden 
cross  pattee  is  the  chief  motive  of  this  beautiful  piece  of 
work,  and  it  is  ornamented  with    rare   enamels  showing 

bust  figures  wearing  stoles,  and 
jewels  in  great  variety,  the 
borderings  being  inlaid  with 
small  fiat  pieces  of  garnet.  The 
spaces  between  the  arms  of  the 
cross  are  tilled  with  bronze 
plaques  elaborately  ornamented 
with  Celtic  interlacings  in 
chiselled  work.  The  workman- 
ship is  probably  Irish,  and  was 
most  likely  done  abroad,  possibly 
enough  at  Lindau  itself,  by  some 

EiG.   oO.-The   bindiug   of   ^^'i^^^  ^^'^^ists  who  had  emigrated. 

the  Gospels  of  Lindau,  the   Irish  jewellers  and  enamellers  of 

older  side.  . ,  .  -,      ,•  •      ,^  i 

this  early  tmie  were  justly  cele- 
brated, and  their  services  were  secured  whenever  possible. 

The  later  side  of  the  binding  is  one  of  the  finest  existing 
specimens  of  Carlovingian  art.  It  is  radically  different  from 
the  earlier  side  and  was  probably  added  about  the  eleventh 
or  twelfth  century. 

In  the  centre  is  a  large  cross  on  which  is  a  gilt  figure  of 
our  Lord  in  the  attitude  of  the  crucifixion.  The  cross  is 
outlined  by  a  structure  of  open  work  of  gold  ornamented 
with  filagree  work  and  thickly  set  with  jewels.     Between 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


53 


the  arms  of  the  cross  are  angels  worked  m  repousse,  and 
rich  bosses  of  gold  and  jewels,  raised  on  arcades  of  open 
work.  The  border  is  of  great  richness,  and  is  thickly 
sown  with  large  jewels  cut  "  en  cabochon,"  many  of  them 
pierced  longitudinally,  betraying  in  all  probability  an 
Oriental  provenance.  No  doubt  this  was  originally  made 
for  some  valuable  manuscript  now  lost,  and  it  was  used  to 
replace  the  original  simple  lower 
cover  of  the  Gospels  of  Lindau 
at  i^ome  unknown  time. 

The  book  was  formerly  in  the 
possession  of  the  Earl  of  Ash- 
burnham,  but  now  it  is  gone  to 
America. 

Beautiful  Byzantine  work  of  the 
twelfth  century  is  to  l)e  seen  upon 
the  carved  and  jewelled  binding 
of  the  Psalter  of  Melissenda, 
daughter  of  Baldwin  IT.,  King 
of  Jerusalem,  and  wife  of  Fulk, 
his  successor.  The  ivory  covers 
measure  eight  by  six  inches,  and 
are  elaborately  carved  in  has  relief  with  Biblical  scenes.  On 
each  side  are  six  circles,  and  in  each  circle  a  little  figure 
group,  on  one  side  representing  episodes  in  the  life  of  David 
and  on  the  other  works  of  mercy.  There  is  lettering  run  in 
with  red,  giving  the  names  of  each  of  the  personages 
shown,  and  their  eyes  are  set  with  tiny  rubies  or  emeralds 
cut  "  en  cabochon  "  like  coloured  grains  of  sand.  The 
spaces  between  the.  circles  are  filled  with  other  Biblical 
or  s^'mbolical  figures,  scrolls  and  animals,  and  a  beautiful 


l-'iG.  51.— The  binding  of  the 
Gospels  of  Liudau,  the 
more  recent  side. 


54       THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

interlacing  border  encloses  the  whole,  set  with  turquoises 
and  rubies. 

The  carver's  name,  "  Herodius,"  is  cut  in  tbe  lower 
cover.  The  workmanship  on  these  ivories  is  extremely 
fine,  and  there  is  no  doubt  they  were  made  to  be  used  as  a 
binding.  The  majority  of  ivory  carvings  found  on  mediaeval 
bookbindings  appear  to  have  been  simply  added,  having 
been  originally  made  for  some  other  purpose.  But  there 
are  notable  exceptions,  particularly  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  at  Paris.  The  shape  in  which  the  plaque  of  ivory 
is  cut  will  often  give  a  valuable  indication  in  this  matter. 

The  finest  Byzantine  binding  now  in  England  is  probably 
that  known  as  the  Gospels  of  Charlemagne,  now  in  the 
Victoria  and  Albert  Museum.  It  is  nearly  square,  and  the 
upper  side  is  overlaid  with  gilt  metal,  enamels  and  gems. 
In  the  centre  is  a  seated  figure  of  Our  Lord  in  the  attitude 
of  Benediction,  in  repousse  work.  Round  this  is  a  band  of 
white  and  green  enamelled  lettering,  restored,  on  which 
are   two   hexameter   lines :  "  Mathevs    et   Marcvs   Lvcas 

SCSQ  JOHANE   VOX  HORV   QVATVOR  REBOAT  TE  XPE  PiEDEMPTOR." 

The  outer  border  is  made  up  of  rectangular  plaques  of 
enamels,  gold  work  and  jewels. 

The  work  here  is  also  largely  restored,  but  it  is,  as  a 
rule,  admirabl}^  done,  and  where  the  old  w'ork  remains, 
especially  in  the  gold,  it  is  of  a  high  excellence.  The 
jewels  have,  for  the  most  part,  been  restored.  As  the 
book  is  now  it  is  a  splendid  and  dignified  example  of  its 
kind  ;  the  under  side  is  simply  covered  with  strong  red 
leather,  with  a  cross  marked  by  small  studs.  Like  many 
of  these  splendid  altar  books,  this  one  is  said  to  have 
served  as  a  Pax. 


EOLLS,  BOOKS   AND   BOOKBINDINGS.  55 

The  manuscript  itself  is  of  the  tenth  century,  and  be- 
longed to  the  Abbey  Church  of  St.  Maurice  d'Agaune,  and 
from  here  it  was  stolen  in  the  fourteenth  century.  It 
afterwards  found  a  home  at  Sion,  and  was  purchased  for 
the  Victoria  and  Albert  Museum  at  the  Spitzer  sale  in 
1893. 

No  doubt  examples  of  rich  monastic  bindings  did  exist 
in  England,  but  none  of  them  are  now  known.  It  is 
likely  enough  that  their  value  condemned  them,  and  that 
they  were  entirely  destroyed  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  six- 
teenth century  to  swell  the  revenues  of  the  king.  The 
manuscripts  belonging  to  these  destroyed  covers  have, 
luckily,  been  kept,  and  numbers  of  them  came  to  the 
British  Museum  by  gift  of  George  II. 

Two  ornamental  bindings  only  of  English  origin  now 
remain  ;  these  are  both  simple,  they  are  the  St.  Cuthbert's 
Gospels  and  the  English  coronation  book  of  Henry  I. 
These  are  described  in  Chapter  VIII. 

There  were  plenty  of  leather  bindings  ornamented  with 
blind  tooling  or  cut  leather  work  in  mediaeval  times,  and 
these  also  are  described  later  on. 

The  idea  of  ornamenting  bindings  with  sunk  panels  is  of 
Arab  origin.  The  fashion  came  to  Europe  by  way  of  Venice, 
and  the  Venetians  themselves  quickly  saw  that  the  possi- 
bihties  of  decorating  bindings  were  largely  increased  by 
this  device.  It  is  done  by  means  of  two  boards,  the  upper 
of  which  is  pierced,  then  the  whole  is  covered  with  leather 
and  ornamented  with  painted  work  or  stamped  work  as  the 
case  may  be.  In  inferior  bindings  of  this  sort,  the  sunk 
panels  are  sometimes  produced  simply  by  hard  pressure, 
but  the  state  of  the  edges  of  the  panels  will  soon  show  how 


50      THE   BOOK:   IT8   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

they  are  made.  If  they  are  steep  there  are  the  double 
boards,  if  very  sloping-  there  may  only  be  one. 

Queen  Elizabeth  had  some  of  these  Venetian  sunk 
bindings  presented  to  her  and  she  liked  them.  Conse- 
quently there  were  a  few  examples  of  it  made  in  England 
in  the  sixteenth  century.  At  a  later  time  Charles  Lewis 
bound  several  large  books  with  double  boards  in  this  way> 
and  I  think  he  w\as  the  only  important  English  binder  who 
has  ever  done  so  to  any  great  extent. 

The  double  boards  have  left  a  trace  of  their  existence  in 
the  form  of  a  trench  which  is  frequently  found  along  the 
edges  of  the  boards  of  sixteenth  century  bindings  of  English, 
Italian,  and  French  workmanship.  The  trench,  however, 
is  merel}^  a  survival  and  does  not  necessarily  imply  the 
actual  existence  of  double  boards.  It  is  a  distant  tribute 
to  our  indebtedness  to  the  East. 

In  some  of  the  double-board  books  bound  for  Queen 
Elizabeth,  with  sunk  panels,  the  headband  is  curiously 
produced  away  from  its  normal  finishing  point  and  is  carried 
right  round  the  entire  edge  of  the  boards  in  the  trench 
between  the  boards.  It  is  a  decorative  and  curious 
peculiarity,  and  I  have  never  met  with  it  in  any  foreign 
books. 

Wooden  boards  were  used  for  bindings  until  about  the 
end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  idea  of  using  several 
layers  of  paper  pasted  together— paste  boards — was  thought 
of.  In  fact,  paste  boards  may  be  considered  to  have  been 
introduced  about  the  same  time  as  printing,  and  waste 
printed  matter  was  often  used  for  making  them  with. 

There  are  many  instances  in  which  valuable  printed 
matter  has  been  found  hidden  up  in  binder's  boards,  and 


EOLLS,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS. 


;^€:L<^g^g^g^grg<r^^^s^^st^>g)g>€^g^gy^^g 


Fig.   52. — Painted   Persian    binding  (Nadii'    Shah,  at  the   battle   of 

Karnul). 


58      THE   BOOK:   ITS   IIISTOEY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

as  these  can  generally  be  soaked  apart  and  cleaned,  we 
already  owe  the  preservation  of  several  unique  fragments 
to  the  fact  of  their  having  been  used  for  bindings. 

Persian  manuscripts  of  the  seventeenth  to  the  nineteenth 
centuries  are  often  ornamented  in  a  maimer  which  is  of 
considerable  interest.  They  are  bound  in  paste  boards  like 
all  other  Oriental  bindings  known  to  me,  and  are  covered 
with  some  sort  of  gesso  applied  in  a  thin  layer.  On  this 
gesso  are  paintings  of  varied  merit;  some  of  them,  especially 
the  historical  and  hunting  scenes,  are  extremely  well  done, 
and  others,  mostly  floral,  are  of  a  commonplace  character. 
The  boards  are  sometimes  painted  inside  and  out. 

The  painting  is  done  in  water-colours,  and  is  of  the 
same  sort  as  is  found  with  the  manuscript  inside,  but 
generally  by  an  inferior  artist.  When  finished  the  painting 
was  thickl}^  varnished,  and  this  varnish  has  darkened  by 
time  into  a  mellow  golden  colour  which  improves  the 
appearance  of  the  colour  work  underneath. 

The  darkening  of  this  varnish  has,  however,  had  a 
remarkable  result :  the  photographic  ray  cannot  pierce  it 
except  here  and  there — in  fact,  the  painting  is  covered  by 
a  non-actinic  curtain.  A  photograph  will  only  show  the 
surface  of  the  varnish  with  here  and  there  a  patch  where 
the  blue  colour  underneath  succeeds  in  making  itself  felt. 

Ornamental  though  these  painted  and  varnished  bindings 
are,  there  is  unfortunately  a  great  and  inherent  delicacy 
about  them,  and  it  is  that  the  varnished  surface  is  badly 
given  to  chipping  off.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  the  best 
remedy  for  this  chij)ping  or  flaking  off  is ;  it  is  probably 
due  to  the  discrepancy  in  hardness  between  the  hard 
varnish  and  the  soft  boards  ;  it  seems  to  be  radical. 


EOLLS,  BOOKS   AXD   BOOKBINDINGS.  59 

Experiments  are  needed  in  this  matter,  but  owners  of 
fine  specimens,  even  if  chipped,  are  naturally  chary  of 
allowing  experiments  which  may  do  harm  as  well  as  good. 
I  should  say  that  probably  much  good  might  be  done  by 
dropping  a  little  collodion  so  as  to  make  it  run  down 
between  the  loosened  surfaces ;  it  will  act  as  a  cement  and 
strengthen  as  well  as  fasten  them  together.  It  is  also  likely 
that  thin  glue  applied  several  times  might  also  do  good  used 
in  the  same  way,  but  I  believe  collodion  is  better  and 
penetrates  weak  places  more  readil}*. 

The  same  styles  of  ornamentation  are  used  on  mirror 
cases  and  other  small  objects,  so  that  although  many 
l)indings  are  so  treated,  yet  the  method  is  not  one 
exclusively  used  for  such  purpose.  But  no  doubt  the 
finest  work  was  put  on  bindings,  some  of  which  are  large. 

Another  Persian  manner  is  that  of  using  large  metal 
stamps  impressed  with  elaborate  arabesques.  The  impres- 
sions from  these  stamps  of  course  give  a  design  in  relief. 
The  whole  impression  is  generally  gilded  in  various  tints, 
and  the  small  desigii  itself  is  often  picked  out  with  a  little 
colour.  Many  of  these  arabesque  panel  stamps  are  of 
wonderful  beauty. 

Arabic  and  other  Oriental  bindings  have  a  curious  tlap 
projecting  from  one  of  the  boards,  which  covers  and 
protects  the  front  edges.  The  flaps  are  ornamented  in  the 
same  way  as  the  rest  of  the  binding. 

The  sewing  and  the  paper  of  all  these  books  is  weak  and 
light,  but  there  is  always  work  of  much  interest  on  the 
bindings.  The  backs  are  flat  and  the  paste  boards  are  thin 
and  covered  with  very  thin  leather.  They  are  usually 
ornamented  inside  and  outside  with  blind  and  gilt  work, 


(50      TIII<]  ]500K:   ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


stamped   and    cut    work,    and     hand    paiiitinj^s    in    much 
variety. 

The  open  work  cut  with  a  knife  from  thin  leather  is 
remarkahle  for  its  extraordinary  precision  and  delicacy;  it 
is  usually  in  arabesques  with  small  ilowers,  and  often 
coloured  by  hand.  It  is  always  set  on  a  background  of 
colour,  either  painted  or  a  bit  of  coloured  paper.     But  the 

work  is  very  frail,  and 
panels  of  it  are  rarely 
found  perfect. 

Oriental  bindings 
are  altogether  -weak, 
and  they  Avill  not 
stand  hard  wear. 

Now  we  have,  chiefly 
from  America,  ma- 
chines that  wall  do 
almost  every  one  of  the  hand-operations  for  binding  a  book. 
There  are  sewing  machines  that  only  want  to  be  fed  with 
thread  and  the  books  to  be  sewn  ;  there  are  casing  machines 
of  wonderful  speed  and  accuracy,  backing  machines  and 
binding  machines.  The  only  one  thing  that  cannot  yet  be 
done  by  a  machine  is  the  pasting  down  the  ends  of  the 
bands  or  tapes  inside  the  boards.  I  rather  think  that 
many  of  these  machines  strain  the  paper  badly,  and  also 
they  require  setting  elaborately  to  a  certain  size.  They 
are  very  useful  for  large,  cheaj)  editions,  but  little  use  for 
good  miscellaneous  work.  Nothing  is  really  so  good  as  the 
old-fashioned  sewdng  on  raised  bands  by  hand. 


Fig.  5o. — Oriental  binding  with  flap 


E0LL8,  BOOKS  AND  BOOKBINDINGS.  61 


BOOKS  TO   CONSULT. 

CocKEKELL,  D.     Bookbinding.     London,  1901. 

Davenport,   C.      Cantor    Lectures    on    Decorative   Bookbinding. 

London,  1898. 
Davenport,   C.       (Encyc.    Brit.    Article   Bookbinding).      London, 

1902. 
Du  SoMMERARD,  A.     Les  arts  au  Moyen  Age.     Pan's,  1S38 — ^40. 
GoRl,  A.  F.     Thesaurus  vet.  Diptychorum.     Florentice,  1759. 
Labarte,  J.     Hist,  des  Arts  au  Moyen  Age.     Paris,  1864. 
LiBRi,  Count  G.     Catalogue.     Pan's,  1857. 
Madan,  F.     Books  in  Manuscript.      London,  \S9'3. 


CHAPTER   III. 

PAPER. 
Paper — Watermarks — Quiring. 

Although  we  get  our  word  "  paper  "  from  "  papyrus," 
this  latter  was  not  a  paper  at  all.  The  essential  charac- 
teristic of  a  true  paper  is  the  matting  or  felting  together  of 
small  fibreSj-whether  these  be  of  wood,  linen,  or  other  sub- 
stance. Pap3'rus  was  the  inwer  bark  of  a  beautiful  reed, 
which  grows  along  the  banks  of  the  Nile,  and  from  a  very 
remote  period  strips  of  this  bark  were  laid  over  each  other 
at  right  angles,  fixed  together  with  gum,  or  perhaps  a  little 
Nile  mud,  and  used  for  writing  upon  with  a  soft  pen.  The 
right-angular  lines  of  the  two  layers  of  papyrus  bark  can 
easily  be  seen  on  any  papyrus  MS. 

Papyrus  is  not  a  good  substance  for  writing  upon ;  it  is 
at  first  too  soft,  and  then  it  gets  brittle  and  is  apt  to 
crumble  away.  By  sticking  successive  strips  of  pajDyrus  to 
each  other  ancient  scribes  produced  long  rolls  of  manu- 
script, and  from  these  rolls  we  derive  many  of  the  book 
terms  which  are  still  in  use.  The  most  obvious  is  "  volume," 
which  is  from  "  volvere,"  "  to  roll  up  "  ;  and  "  Bible  "  comes 
from  the  Greek  "  jSvjBXol,"  meaning  the  inner  bark  of 
papyrus. 

In  China  the  possibility  of  making  thin  feltings  with 
silk  fibre  was  probabl}'  known  at  a  very  remote  period,  and 


PAPER.  63 

it  is  likely  enough  that  from  some  such  unsatisfactory  pro- 
duction the  better  and  usable  kinds  made  of  vegetable 
fibres  evolved  itself.  We  cannot  no^Y  say  when  the  possi- 
bility of  felting  together  fibres  of  wood  or  grass  first  became 
known  to  the  Chinese,  but  it  was  certainly  well  understood 
in  the  fifth  or  sixth  centuries,  because  specimens  of  it  still 
exist. 

In  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  in  751  a.d.,  there 
were  certain  tribal  disturbances  on  the  Chinese  frontier  of 
Persia,  and  one  of  the  combatants  called  in  the  help  of  the 
Chinese.  These,  however,  suffered  defeat  at  the  hands  of 
the  Arab  governor  of  Samarkand,  who  brought  bacU  some 
Chinese  prisoners  to  his  town.  These  men  were  acquainted 
with  the  Chinese  methods  of  making  paper. 

From  these  Chinese  prisoners  the  Arabs  and  their  friends 
the  Persians  learnt  the  art  of  paper-making  with  vegetable 
fibres,  but  the  supply  in  this  particular  very  soon  gave  out, 
^d  because  enough  suital)le  fibres  were  difficult  to  get  they 
mixed  them  with  pulped  rags.  Eventually  the  Samarkand 
paper-makers  used  rags  only,  and  these  they  easily  got  in 
sufiicient  quantities  frojn  old  linen  clothes,  and  also  the 
mummy  wrappings  from  Egypt  were  made  use  of  in  the 
same  way. 

From_ihe  Ara,bs  the  knowledge  of  paper-making  passed 
rapidly  to  Europe,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century 
it  had  entirely  superseded  the  use  of  papyrus. 

The  researches  of  Dr.  J.  Wiesner  and  Dr.  J.  Karabacek, 
both  professors  of  the  University  of  Vienna,  have  been  of 
incalculable  value  as  regards  the  composition  and  history  of 
ancient  paper,  and  they  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  examining  the  papers  in  the  collection  of  the 


(M       TIIH    I'.OOK:    ITS    IIlSTOliY   AND    JiKVKLOi'MENT. 

Archduke  Rainer,  among  which  are  specimens  of  very  early 
work.  The  professors  have  examined  these  and  other 
old  papers  microscoi)ically  and  chemically,  and  found  that 
from  the  heginning  it  was  considered  necessary  to  lo^id 
papers  with  some  hinding  or  lilliiig  suhstance  ;  tHey  found 
starch,  starch  flour,  probahly  from  rice,  and  among  the 
Chinese  papers  a  dressing  of  powdered  gypsum.  Without 
some  such  dressing  the  papers  would  have  resembled  our 
blotting  paper,  and  it  would  have  been  almost  impossible  to 
write  upon  them. 

Professor  Wiesner  found  that  Chinese  papers  of  the  eighth 
century  were  really  mixed  i^apers ;  they  contained  fibres  of 
mulberry  bark,  hemp  and  rags.  Eags  of  fishing  nets  them- 
selves would  contain  fibres  of  flax,  hemp,  and  China  grass. 
But  the  main  constituent  of  ancient  Chinese  paper  is  fibre 
of  mulberry-bark,  and  I  believe  it  is  so  still,  although  China 
grass  fibre  is  also  much  used. 

Specimens  of  Chinese  papers  from  the  eighth  century 
onwards  can  be  seen  at  the  British  Museum.  They  are  soft, 
but  have  lasted  fairly  well,  and  do  not  appear  to  show  any 
wire  marks.  The  colour  of  these  papers  is  much  the  same 
as  Chinese  papers  made  now,  but  in  some  instances  they 
have  certainly  darkened  as  modern  wood  pulp  papers 
also  do. 

One  of  the  later  specimens,  a  bank  note  issued  during  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Hung-wu,  a.d.  1368-1399,  is  made  of  a 
darkened  pulp,  probably  due  to  admixture  with  a  little  lamp 
black,  and  on  it  are  lighter  impressions  from  large  stamps 
bearing  the  square  seal  letters.  It  is  just  possible  that 
these  marks  may  be  of  the  nature  of  watermarks,  and  were 
impressed  while  the  pulp  was  soft  and  wet,  but  it  is  not 


PAPEE. 


65 


possible  now  to  take  the  bank  note  up  from  the  cardboard 
on  which  it  has  been  pasted,  as  to  do  so  would  probably 
cause  it  to  fall  to  pieces,  so  it  cannot,  for  the  moment,  be 
jiroperly  examined. 

Corean  and  Japanese  papers  were  the  same  as  Chinese, 
and  they  all  look  as  if  there  are  no  wire  marks  or  water- 
marks upon  them,  with  the  one  exception  I  have  mentioned, 
l)ut  Dr.  Wiesner  says  that  by  the  ninth  century  marks 
show  in  many  instances  which  prove  that  papers  were 
made  in  moulds  or  sieves  with  network  bottoms,  the  impres- 
sion of  which  remains  like  our  "  chains  " 
or  laid  marks.  In  the  King's  Library 
at  the  British  Museum  is  shown  a  piece 
of  Oriental  paper,  an  official  letter  in 
Coptic,  dated  a.d.  1048.  It  does  not  look 
so  strong  or  good  as  the  Chinese  paper, 
but  resembles  thin  blotting  paper,  and 
shows  no  wire  mark. 

An  early  example  of  European  paper 
is  preserved  in  the  Eecord  Office  in 
London.  It  is  a  letter  from  the  Count  of  Toulouse  to 
Henry  III.,  and  is  dated  a.d.  1216.  In  France,  however, 
by  this  time,  the  making  of  paper  had  been  understood  for 
some  time,  as  it  was  made  there  in  1189.  In  Belgium 
it  was  not  made  until  1551,  in  which  year  a  paper  mill  was 
set  up  at  Tourneppe  by  Henri  de  Nevere. 

By  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  paper-making  in 
Europe  was  perfectly  understood,  and  the  papers  of  that 
date,  and  for  some  time  after  it,  are  frequently  excellent  in 
everyway,  and  as  sound,  strong,  and  good  now  as  they  were 
when  first  made. 

T.B.  F 


Fig.  54.  — Water- 
mark used  by 
John  Tute  iu 
1495. 


GO      TiiE  BOOK:   ITS  11I8T0KY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

The  first  English  book  printed  on  English  paper  is  Bur- 
tholoniaeus,  l)e  Propiictatihns  Iteiiim,  published  1495-6. 
The  paper  is  of  high  quality,  it  shows  a  fine  wire  mark,  and 
a  watermark  of  a  double  circle  enclosing  an  eight-pointed  star. 
The  paper  was  made  at  Hertford  by  John  Tate,  who  was 
afterwards  Lord  Mayor  of  London  ;  the  title  page  is  cut  in 
wood,  and  the  book  is  illustrated  with  outline  wood-cuts. 

At  the  end  are  some  verses,  and  among  these  occur  the 
lines  : — 

"  And  Jolin  Tate  the  younger  Joye  mote  he  broke, 
Which  late  hath  in  Enghind  doo  make  this  jKiper  thyiine, 
That  now  in  our  Eiiglysch  this  boke  is  prynted  Iniie." 

It  is  paper  to  be  proud  of,  and  John  Tate  the  younger 
would  unquestionably  look  upon  the  large  majority  of  our 
modern  papers  with  the  utmost  scorn,  and  he  would  be 
perfectly  justified  in  doing  so. 

The  early  method  of  making  paper  was  to  allow  the  pulp 
to  settle  at  the  bottom  of  a  trough  like  a  sieve,  with  a  wire 
bottom,  in  which  the  wires  were  arranged  in  a  certain -way, 
thick  and  thin,  the  trade  mark  of  the  maker  also  being  outlined 
in  wire.  The  faint  marks  these  wires  cause  in  the  paper  are 
called  watermarks,  and  although  at  first  they  were  makers' 
marks,  they  eventually  denoted  the  size  of  the  sheet  of 
paper  on  ^Yhich  they  were  shown. 

The  present  method  of  making  paper  from  rags  is  to  pulp 
them  thoroughl}'  in  water,  and  let  the  white  particles 
become  so  thoroughly  dift'used  that  the  liquid  in  which 
they  float  looks  like  thin  milk. 

This  tliin  mixture,  however,  if  left  quiet,  very  quickly 
resolves  itself  into  a  sediment  of  white  fibres  with  clear  water 


PAPER.  67 

above  them.  If  uow  the  superambient  water  can  be  drawn 
off,  and  the  sediment  pressed  flat,  paper  is  the  result.  But  it 
is  not  so  easily  done  as  said.  In  order  to  catch  the  sediment 
ill  the  most  satisfactory  wa}',  the  milky  tluid  containing  the 
rag  fibres  is  allowed  to  flow  in  a  thin  stream  over  a  long, 
shallow  trough,  which  is  kept  moving  onwards  and  is  also 
so  arranged  that  it  has  a  sideways  tremble,  backwards  and 
forwards  as  well.  The  eftect  of  this  is  that  wlien  the  further 
end  of  the  trough  is  reached,  on  its  floor  there  is  a  thin 
continuous  film  of  slightly  matted  fibres,  the  water  from 
wliich  has  flowed  away  along  the  sides  of  the  trough.  Now 
another  device  comes  into  play  ;  a  thin  light  roller  of  wire 
presses  lightly  on  the  wet  film,  and  by  this  pressure  the 
little  fibres  are  pressed  upon  each  other  so  that  they  mat, 
interlace,  and  cohere  together.  The  paper  in  this  state  is 
of  course  very  delicate,  but  by  reason  of  a  quick  drying  and 
carrying  off  on  light  rollers  it  soon  acquires  the  strength 
necessary  to  enable  it  to  hold  together  until  it  is  quite  dry. 
Then  it  goes  through  several  other  stages,  the  most  impor- 
tant of  which  is  pressing.  The  various  processes  can 
obviously  be  modified  easily  enough  so  as  to  make  a  thin 
paper  or  a  thick  one.  Paper  made  in  this  way  with  a 
vibratory  trough  is  culled  "  machine  made,"  and  by  reason 
of  its  fibres  laying  more  or  less  in  a  uniform  direction  the 
resulting  paper  is  more  easily  torn  in  one  direction  than  in 
the  other.  If  a  circular  piece  be  cut  out  of  such  pulp  and 
laid  on  water  it  will  tend  to  fold  up  two  of  its  opposite  sides. 
But  ancient  paper  was  made  in  a  trough  held  by  hands 
and  given  a  lateral  movement,  then  pressed  and  dried  in 
some  simple  way.  By  sucli  a  procedure  the  fibres  are 
thoroughly  mixed,  and  do  not  lie  in  one  direction  more  than 

f2 


(W      Til  10   HOOK:   IT8  IIISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

in  another,  so  that  if  a  circular  bit  of  such  paper  be  laid  in 
water  it  will  turn  upwards  at  the  edge  evenly  all  round,  and 
look  like  a  little  saucer. 

I  have  mentioned  a  light  wire  roller  which  presses  the 
wet  film  more  or  less  into  shape  just  before  it  leaves  the 
long  trough  to  be  dried.  As  long  ago  as  the  thirteenth 
century  in  Europe  the  fact  that  devices  could  be  impressed 
upon  the  undried  film  by  thinning  it  and  making  it  more 
transparent  where  touched  appears  to  have  been  known,  and 
from  about  that  time  onwards  "  watermarks  "  have  fortu- 
nately been  applied  in  the  same  manner,  namely,  so  as  to 
come  in  the  middle  of  the  first  leaf  of  the  pair  forming  a 
folio.  It  is  also  fortunate  that  the  "  chains "  or  wires 
forming  the  rollers  have  always  been  laid  in  the  same  way; 
it  is  certainly  the  obvious  one,  but  obvious  ways  are  not 
always  adopted.  The  result  is  that  by  observing  the  direc- 
tion of  the  strong  chain  marks  and  the  fine  "laid  "  marks 
between  them  much  information  concerning  the  folding  of 
the  original  sheets  can  be  obtained. 

In  very  early  papers  these  rules  cannot  be  safely  followed, 
because  early  chain  marks  as  well  as  early  watermarks 
were  not  produced  in  the  same  reliable  way.  The  paper 
being  made  in  moulds  with  wire  netting  at  the  bottom,  the' 
impression  came  below  the  paper  instead  of  above  it  as  in 
the  case  of  the  roller,  and  also  the  sizes  of  the  sheets  were 
more  likely  to  difi'er. 

Watermarks  are  the  semi-transparent  devices  which  show 
on  certain  pages  of  a  printed  book.  They  are  to  be  seen  on 
most  papers  of  the  fourteenth  to  the  eighteenth  centm*ies, 
and  there  has  been  a  good  deal  written  alioat  them,  especi- 
ally abroad.     The  devices  were  outlined  in  wire  and  set  in 


PAPER.  69 

the  bottom  of  the  trough  or  on  the  wire  roller  I  have  just 
decribed,  so  that  the  lines  are  impressed  upon  the  pulp  just 
when  it  is  in  its  most  sensitive  condition.  The  pressure 
from  the  wire  device  thins  the  pulp  wherever  it  is  touched, 
and  so  when  dry  the  device  shows  lighter  than  the  rest  of 
the  paper. 

These  marks  should  be  called  wire  marks  rather  than 
watermarks,  and  the  French  word  for  them,  "  Filigranes," 
is  more  correct  than  ours.  The  difference  in  tint  between 
a  watermark  and  the  rest  of  the  paper  is  so  distinct  that  a 
photographic  negative  placed  under  one  will  render  a  capital 
photograph  of  it,  far  better  than  any  drawing,  but  it  needs 
a  long  exposure. 

Watermarks  are  already  of  considerable  value  to  Biblio- 
graphers, and  it  is  likely  that  in  the  near  future  they  will 
be  much  more  noticed,  especially  in  English  books.  Many 
frauds  have  already  been  detected  by  reason  of  the  water- 
marks, as  it  is  a  point  that  faussaires  have  so  far  paid  little 
attention  to.  The  marks  are,  however,  not  to  be  relied  on 
after  about  1750,  as  they  do  not  run  reliably  in  machine 
made  or  wove  papers. 

Armorial  devices  have  been  largely  used  as  watermarks. 
Many  of  the  earlier  marks  show  the  arms  of  towns,  esj^eci- 
ally  continental  ones,  and  among  others  there  are  the  arms 
of  France,  Portugal,  William  and  Mary  and  Queen  Anne, 
shown  in  full  heraldic  outlines. 

The  Holl)ein  family  of  Ravensburg  bore  a  bull's  head  as 
their  armorial  badge,  and  they  were  i3aj)er  makers,  so  the 
bull's  head  shows  on  their  paper  as  a  watermark.  It  was 
afterwards  much  copied,  and  during  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth centuries  it  became  a  favourite  mark  on  German 


70      THE  BOOK:   TTS  TITSTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Fig.  55. — Englisli 
"hand"  water- 
mark, 1512. 


papers.  There  does  not  seem  to  luive  been  any  strict  copy- 
right in  any  of  the  devices  used  as  watermarks.  They  were 
freely  used  by  any  one  who  cared  to  do 
so,  but  the  copies  were  never  very  care- 
fully made,  they  were  always  variants  of 
the  original.  They  were  moreover  gene- 
rally accompanied  by  another  mark,  that 
of  the  maker,  on  another  part  of  the 
paper.  The  same  privilege  of  using  a 
"  maker's  "  mark  was  also  allowed  to  the 
silversmiths  in  addition  to  the  official 
hall  mark. 

To  some  slight  extent  watermarks  on 
paper  made  for  particular  books  have 
followed  the  subjects  of  those  books,  and 
in  accordance  with  a  loyal  feeling  there 
are  instances  of  a  crown  watermark  being  used  on  paper 
prepared  for  special  copies  of  books  intended  for  pre- 
sentation to  reigning  sovereigns. 

On  papers  used  for  early  English  prmted  books  we  find 
the  favourite  German  bull's  head, 
bunches  of  grapes,  unicorns,  dogs, 
hands  with  stars,  and  shears.  These 
appear  in  several  sizes,  and  show 
many  varieties  and  modifications 
of  their  original  designs. 

In  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  a  greater  variety 
occur  ;  on  Enghsh  paper  there  is  found  the  post  horn 
and  the  fool's  cap,  sometimes  showing  as  a  cap  only 
and  sometimes  as  a  fool's  head  with    cap  and  bells.     A 


Fig.  5(5. — Englisli  "crown" 
watermark,  1745. 


PAPER. 


71 


similar  design  was  largely'  used  abroad.  In  the  time  of 
Charles  I.  a  crown  was  a  usual  watermark  on  official  folio 
paper,  but  the  Eump  Parliament  ordered  that  the  foolscap 
should  be  in  future  substituted  for  it,  which  was  done. 
"Double foolscap"  is  still  used  as  a  designation  for  a  certain 
size  of  printing  paper,  so  also  is  "  double-crown." 


Fjg.  57. — Euglish  "fools- 
cap" watermark,  1661. 


Fig.  58. — English  "  Britannia 
watermark,  1907. 


The  foolscap  itself  shortly  gave  way  to  a  figure  of 
Britannia  or  a  lion  rampant.  The  post  horn  was  another 
common  watermark  here ;  it  gave  its  name  to  its  paper 
about  1670,  when  the  mail  carrier  was  accustomed  to 
announce  his  approach  by  a  blast  from  his  horn.  The 
name  "Post"  still  designates  a  certain  size  of  printing 
paper.     The  smallest  folio  paper  of  the  seventeenth  century 


72      THE  BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVICI.OPMENT. 

was  marked  with  a  watermark  of  a  "  pot,"  and  hence  the 
name. 

For  specially  printed  hooks  it  is  a  i)retty  fancy  to  have  a 
coat-of-arms  set  as  a  watermark,  and  it  is  now  and  then 
done,  hut  1  fear  few  readers  notice  it.  Many  papers  are 
now  made  without  watermarks,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that, 
except  for  trade  terminology,  they  will  gradually  die  out 
altogether  as  heing  unnecessary. 

The  possihilities  of  artistic  watermarking   have  not  yet 


Fig.  59.— English  "  post "  Fig.  60.— English  "pot" 

watermark,  1679.  watermark,  1640. 

been  fully  realised.  At  the  St.  Louis  Exhibition  in  1904 
there  was  a  German  exhibit  which  showed  the  remarkable 
effect  which  could  be  made  by  imiDressing  paper  pulp  by 
means  of  a  photographic  jDlate  in  relief. 

The  papers  which  had  been  so  treated  were  set  up  in  a 
frame  with  a  light  behind  them,  and  they  looked  like  most 
delicate  paintings  in  monotone.  Those  exhibited  w^ere 
portraits  of  celebrities,  and  they  were  not  only  excellent 
but  possessed  the  quality  of  permanence  in  a  remarkable 
degree. 


PAPEE. 


73 


Printing  papers  are  generally  white,  but  sometimes  they 
have  been  used  in  colour,  green,  pink,  blue  or  yellow. 
Such  papers  are  now  and  then  found  in  Italian,  German, 
and  English  books,  more  rarely  in  French.  Silk  and  satin 
have  both  been  used  for  printing  on  in  England  from  the 
seventeenth  to  the  nineteenth  century.  Vellum  has  also 
been  largely  used  for  special  copies  of  fine  printed  books. 

A  recent  French  book  of  praj-ers  is  entirely  woven  in 
white  and  black  silk.  It  looks  like  a  beautifully  printed 
book    with    monotone    borders. 

An  original  sheet  of  paper  can 
of  course  be  made  and  cut  to  any 
size,  and  the  terms  folio,  quarto, 
octavo,  and  duodecimo  do  not 
indicate  any  actual  size  except 
in  bookbinders'  specifications. 
The  terms  only  indicate  the 
number  of  times  the  original 
sheet  has  been  folded,  and  this 

obviously  is  a  matter  which  is  subject  to  as  much  variation 
as  the  printers  choose.  But  fortunately  such  foldings 
do  not  vary  much,  and  so  we  may  safely  mention  those 
that  are  most  commonly  used.  There  are  several  ways 
of  finding  this  out,  the  most  obvious  being  to  count  the 
leaves  which  follow  any  one  letter  in  the  white  line  at  tlje 
bottom  of  the  leaf.  This  letter  is  called  the  "signature." 
If  there  is  an  A  or  A  1  at  the  bottom  of  the  first  leaf,  and 
when  eight  leaves  have  been  turned  over  a  B  or  B  1  appears, 
then  the  book  is  an  octavo,  and  so  on.  Another  way  of 
determining  the  same  thing  is  by  means  of  the  direction 
taken  by  the  chain  or  wire  marks  all  over  the  paper,  and 


Fig.  61.  —  '•  Chain  Hues  " 
thick,  and  "laid  lines" 
thin,  on  paper. 


74      THE   BOOK:   ITS  IIISTOEY  AND   D]':VELOPMENT. 


Fig.  62.— Fol. 


yet  another  is  to  be  found  l)y  studying  the  position  of  the 

waternuirk.  But  neither  of  these  tests  are  conclusive,  and 
often  enough  there  are  neither  chain 
marks  nor  watermarks  to  be  found  at 
all,  and  the  sheets  are  not  always 
rightly  or  carefully  cut,  which  brings 
the  watermark  all  wrong,  so  the 
following  notes  are  onl}'  what  may  be 
expected  in  normal  Ijooks. 

If  a  piece  of  paper  or  page  of  a  book 
printed  before  1750,  aVid  possibly  in 
later  work,  be  held  up  to  the  light, 
certain  lines  may  be  sej^n  all  over  it 
in  a  lighter  tint  than  the  rest  of  the 

page.     These  appear  as  long  thick  lines  crossed  at  right 

angles   by  short    ihin  ones.     The  long   thicjver  lines   are 

known   as  "  chain  "  lines,  and  the    shorter^nes   "  laid  " 

lines,    and   they  are  of   some   value  when  fTfey  exist  for 

helping  to  determine  the   "  size "  of  the 

book. 

— Fol.     If  the  original  sheet  is  folded 

once  it  is  called  a  folio,  and  in  this  case 

the  chain  marks    are  perpendicular   and 

the  watermark  is  in  the  middle  of    the 

first  leaf.      In  a  folio  there  is  one  fold, 

two  leaves  or  four  pages,  and  nothing  to 

cut.     Most  of    Caxton's  books  are   folios 

although  they  are  quite  small. 

— 4°  in  size.     If  the  once  folded  sheet  be  folded  again 

across  the  other  way  we  get  a  gathering  with  four  leaves, 

or    eight    pages,     called  a  quarto.     The   chain   lines   are 


Fi-.  63. 


PAPER.  75 

horizontal,  and  the  watermark  in  the  middle  of  the  hack  of 
pp.  4  and  5  ;  there  are  two  foldings  and  two  tops  of  leaves 
to  be  cut. 

— 8°.  If  the  quarto  be  again  folded  we  get  a  gathering 
of  eight  leaves,  or  16  pp.,  called  an  octavo,  which  is  the 
commonest  size  for  English  books.  In  an  octavo  there  are 
three  foldings,  the  chain  lines  are  perpendicular,  the 
watermark  is  quartered  at  the  tops  of  pp.  3,  4,  11  and 
12,  and  there  are  two  tops  and  two  fronts  to  be  cut. 


Fig.  64.— S°. 


Fig.  65.-12° 


The  further  foldings  of  16°,  32°,  and  64°  are  the  same 
operations  carried  further,  but  although  such  sizes  do 
exist  they  are  so  uncommon  that  a  further  description  of 
them  is  not  necessary. 

— 12°.  In  the  case  of  a  duodecimo  a  difterent  initial 
folding  is  followed.  The  original  sheet  instead  of  being 
folded  once  across  the  middle,  as  in  the  case  of  a  folio,  is 
now  folded  into  three  equal  divisions.  The  parallelogram 
thus  formed  is  folded  across  its  shorter  diameter,  and  this 
again  along  its  longer  diameter.     There  is  now  a  gathering 


7(i      TlIM    I'.ooK:    ITS    IIIS'LTmY   AXD    DEVELOPMENT. 

of  twelve  leiives,  or  'li  [>[).,  with  four  ffjldings,  the  chain 
marks  pGrpeiidiciilai-,  the  watermark  lialved  at  the  tops  of 
j)[).  3  and  1),  and  there  are  two  tops  and  four  fronts  to 
be  cut.  It  is  tlie  commonest  size  of  the  smaller  Frencli 
books. 

As  to  sizes,  folios  run  from  the  great  Atlas  of  Charles  II., 
measuring  five  feet  nine  inches  and  a  half  by  three  feet  two 
inches  and  a  half,  and  requiring  eight  skins  of  morocco  for  its 
binding,  to  the  tiny  Galileo  a  Maddiiic  Crist iiiadeLnmia,  1G15, 
"  imprim6  en  1897,"  measuring  one  half  by  one  quarter  of 
an  inch.     A  folio  cannot  be  recognised  by  its  shape. 

The  sizes  of  quartos  and  octavos  are  also  very  varied, 
but,  roughly  speaking,  they  can  be  recognised  by  their 
shapes,  especially  in  the  case  of  modern  books.  A  quarto 
is  generally  squarish  in  outline,  nearly  as  broad  as  it  is 
long  ;  an  octavo  is  an  elongated  rectangle,  its  breadth  con- 
siderably less  than  its  length.  A  duodecimo  is  always 
much  longer  than  its  breadth. 

As  curiosities,  books  have  been  made  in  many  forms, 
circular,  heart-shaped,  octagonal,  flower  or  animal  forms, 
but  they  are  of  small  importance,  and  have  been  chiefly 
made  as  Christmas  cards,  valentines,  and  such  ej)hemeral 
publications. 

The  rules  as  to  quiring  of  books  jDrinted  on  paper  do  not 
apply  to  books  printed  on  vellum.  Such  books  are  always 
folios,  and  they  are  generally  quired  in  gatherings  of  ten 
leaves,  following  the  fashion  used  in  the  ancient  manu- 
scripts, but,  of  course,  they  can  equally  well  be  gathered 
together  in  any  even  number  that  maybe  preferred.  There 
is  no  rule. 

In   Europe,    until    the   nineteenth    century,    paper   was 


PAPER.  77 

always  made  from  triturated  rags,  but  the  demand  for 
cheap  hterature  ^Yllich  has  become  so  urgent  in  recent 
years  has  compelled  paper  manufacturers  to  find  some 
commoner  material  from  which  to  make  their  paper. 

It  is  possible  that  the  way  out  of  the  difficulty  was 
suggested  by  an  analysis  of  Japanese  paper.  This  has 
been  known  here  for  some  time.  It  is  strong,  soft,  and 
valuable  for  many  reasons,  and  is  cheaply  made  of  fibres 
from  plants  of  the  mulberry  tree  species.  Japanese  paper 
is  hand  made  and  has  a  certain  amount  of  dressing,  its 
surface  is  dull,  but  takes  impressions  from  engraved  plates 
or  type  easily.  It  appears  to  last  fairly  well,  but  would 
probably  not  stand  much  wear  at  the  joints. 

The  idea  of  using  pulped  vegetable  matter  for  paper  was, 
however,  not  new,  even  to  the  Japanese,  as  there  was  such 
a  thing  as  paper  made  from  papyrus,  but  it  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  much  employed,  because  it  was  not  necessary 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  paj)yrus  did  quite  well  by  itself 
without  any  further  manipulation. 

For  reliable  papers,  the  Committee  on  the  Deterioration 
of  Paper  appointed  by  the  Society  of  Arts  in  1898  give  in 
their  report  a  statement  that  70  per  cent,  should  consist  of 
fibres  of  cotton,  flax,  or  hemp,  but  about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century  it  was  found  that  passable  paper  could 
be  very  cheaply  made  from  straw  and  from  esparto  grass, 
and  this  paved  the  way  for  the  disastrous  use  of  mechanical 
wood  pulp  for  cheaj)  newspapers  and  books. 

Many  sorts  of  wood  pulps  are  now  made  for  this  purpose, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  industry  of  breaking  up 
wood  for  the  purpose  of  paper  making  is  a  large  and 
increasing  one.     In  Norway  there  are  several  large  estab- 


78      THE  BOOK:   ITS  IIISTOHY   AND   UEVELOl'MENT. 

lishments  already  workiiif,'  at  this  output.  The  fibres  of 
spruce,  pine,  lurch,  poplar,  jute,  and  nianilla  are  all 
extensively  used.  The  wood  is  cut  up  into  small  pieces  and 
triturated  until  it  is  in  a  state  of  fine  dissemination,  a  mass 
of  small  iibres,  in  which  condition  it  is  mixed  in  certain 
proportions  with  the  other  materials  of  which  the  paper  is 
to  be  composed.  In  spite  of  the  warnings  of  the  Society  of 
Arts  Committee,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  use  of 
"mechanical  "  wood  pulp  for  paper  is  increasing,  and  this 
regardless  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  lasting  quality  in 
such  material,  for  the  fibres  of  the  wood  are  invariably 
brittle,  and  they  also  darken  rapidly  under  the  influence  of 
light. 

The  dressing  of  such  papers  with  resin  or  gelatine  effects 
a  certain  improvement;  gelatine  particularly  adds  to  the 
life  of  a  paper  and  increases  the  elasticity  of  the  wood 
fibres,  but  this  good  e&ett  tends  to  die  out  in  time.  Eesin 
is  of  less  use. 

One  particularly  troublesome  result  of  having  to  deal 
with  wood  pulp  papers  is  that  it  will  not  hold  the  threads 
used  in  ordinary  binding;  the  thread  cuts  right  through  the 
paper  because  of  the  shortness  or  brittleness  of  the  fibres, 
and  if  a  book  printed  on  such  paper  has  to  be  bound,  the 
only  safe  w^ay  to  do  it  is  to  frame  each  page  in  a  border  of 
sound  rag  paper,  and  then  have  it  sewn  as  usual.  Wood 
paper  will  not  stand  bending,  but  breaks  off  short  if  there 
is  anything  like  a  joint  or  fold  in  it,  and  the  framing  or 
mounting  prevents  this.  The  process  of  mounting  every 
leaf  of  a  book  is,  however,  a  very  expensive  one ;  a  couple 
of  pounds  may  well  1)6  spent  on  a  comparatively  small 
book  for  this  operation  alone,  so  that  the  prospect  before 


PAPER.  79 

owners  of  libraries  wlio  wish  to  keep  their  books  in  good 
order  is  not  brilHant.  Xo  amount  of  dressing  can  make 
such  paper  really  strong,  as  it  is  the  fibres  themselves  that 
are  in  fault. 

But  there  is  another  form  in  which  the  use  of  wood  is 
not  so  harmful,  and  in  this  case  the  fibres  are  no  longer 
there  to  be  found  fault  with.  "  Chemical  "  wood  pulp  is  a 
form  of  cellulose,  and  it  is  likely  that  it  is  destined  to  play 
an  im])ortant  part  in  the  paper  of  the  future,  in  conjunction 
with  fibres  of  various  sorts. 

Chemical  wood  pulp  is  prepared  from  the  wood  fibres  by 
"digesting"  with  caustic  soda  or  bisulphide  of  lime,  as 
reducing  agents.  The  process  is  one  of  much  interest,  and 
moreover  a  good  deal  of  wood  has  to  be  used  to  make  a 
comparatively  small  amount  of  wood  cellulose.  Esparto 
and  straw  celluloses  are  not  so  good  as  wood  cellulose. 

The  invention  of  the  "  half-tone  "  process,  by  which  a 
dotted  block  can  be  produced  from  a  toned  drawing,  print, 
or  photograph,  can  be  made,  is  responsible  for  much 
dangerous  procedure  with  regard  to  the  paper  upon  which 
the  prints  from  the  dotted  blocks  are  to  be  made. 

In  itself  the  invention  of  the  half-tone  process  is  a 
wonderful  and  beautiful  one,  but  it  has  done  more  to  ruin 
the  already  decadent  modern  paper  than  anything  else,  be- 
cause it  has  made  the  dressing  of  the  paper  of  greater 
importance  than  the  paper  itself. 

Incidentally,  the  half-tone  block  has  given  the  death- 
blow to  the  old  and  beautiful  art  of  wood  engraving,  which 
is  now  only  found  in  quite  exceptional  instances.  But  the 
lialf-tone  Ijlock  has,  nevertheless,  provided  some  small 
solace   for   the  dispossessed  wood   engravers,  because  the 


80      THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

soft  metal  blocks  ^o  wrong  in  light  places  and  themselves 
need  careful  revision  with  a  graver.  This  touching-up  is 
so  general,  and  so  much  technical  skill  is  required  for  its 
proper  execution,  that  it  has  already  become  a  recognised 
profession,  and  the  engraver's  name  is  often  enough  recog- 
nised in  the  lettering  of  the  prints  made  from  such  blocks, 
especially  in  American  publications. 

The  dots  of  half-tone  blocks  were  at  first  of  an  easil}^ 
visible  size,  but  as  the  method  of  production  became  better 
understood  it  was  found  that  they  could  be  made  so  small 
that  they  were  no  longer  visible  as  separate  dots  to  the 
unaided  vision,  but  that  the  effect  produced  was  really  that 
of  a  tone- wash. 

But  the  very  finely  grained  blocks  were  difficult  to  print 
from,  the  ink  stuck  too  readily  between  the  dots,  where  it 
was  not  wanted,  and  the  surface  of  the  paper  was  not  even 
enough  to  give  a  clear  impression,  even  if  it  was  calendered 
and  super-calendered.  So  something  had  to  be  done  to 
give  the  paper  a  more  level  surface,  and  the .  needed 
material  was  found  in  china  clay  mixed  more  or  less  with 
barytes.  It  is  laid  down  in  the  Societi/  of  Arts  Report  that 
the  amount  of  this  dressing  should  in  no  case  exceed  10 
per  cent,  in  any  paper,  but  modern  "  art  "  papers  have 
for  a  long  time  much  exceeded  this  fair  proportion. 

From  the  beginning  some  kind  of  dressing  has  always 
been  found  necessary  in  the  manufacture  of  paper,  but 
nothing  so  dangerous  as  china  clay  has  ever  been  used. 
The  net  result  is  that  almost  all  modern  editions-de-luxe, 
and  fine  illustrated  books  generally,  either  having  half-tone 
plates  oi"  colour  plates  done  by  the  three  colour  process, 
consist  of  little  else  l)ut  thin  sheets  of  china  clay  supported 


PAPER.  81 

by  the  smallest  possible  skeleton  of  wood  or  other  cheap 
fibres. 

It  must  be  at  once  granted  that  the  impressions  from 
delicate  half-tone  blocks  made  on  clay  paper  are  admirable, 
and  it  is  also  true  that  the  printing  ink  makes  the  clay 
insoluble  in  water  wherever  it  touches  it.  But  the  clay  has 
a  certain  affinity  for  damp,  and  books  printed  on  clay 
paper  yery  readily  show  damp  stains,  and  if  left  for  any 
time  in  a  really  damp  place  they  are  liable  to  become  solid 
bricks  of  white  mud,  quite  impossible  to  repair. 

If  very  dry  the  non-cohesive  clay  will  turn  to  a  white 
powder.  Moreover,  this  clay-laden  paper  will  not  hold 
binding  threads,  so  again  it  has  to  be  jDresei'ved.  A  book 
printed  on  such  material  has  to  be  treated  in  the  same 
way  as  I  have  described  in  the  case  of  wood  pulp  paper. 

There  is,  however,  a  plan  of  preserving  prints  on  clay, 
and  this  is  to  fasten  down  the  printed  portion  on  a  piece  of 
sound  paper  from  the  beginning.  This  is  already  done  to 
some  extent,  and  it  should  be  universal  in  the  case  of 
isolated  plates,  but  when  a  book  is  all  printed  on  clay  paper, 
as  many  fine  and  valuable  books  unfortunately  are,  it  is 
difficult  to  say  what  is  best  to  be  done.  The  only  real 
remedy  seems  to  be  a  refusal  on  the  part  of  purchasers  to 
buy  such  books.  But  purchasers  do  not  always  know  when 
tliey  are  buj'ing  clay  instead  of  paper.  It  is,  however,  n.ot 
difficult  to  tell,  as  the  claj^-laden  paper  feels  very  smooth 
and  soft  to  the  touch  of  a  dry  finger.  This  pecuharity  can 
be  easily  detected  in  one  or  other  of  the  American  maga- 
zines, Harper's  or  Scribner's,  and  the  difference  between 
the  feel  of  a  page  holding  an  impression  from  a  fine  half- 
tone block,  and  that  having  only  text,  will  at  once  be  evident. 

T.B.  G 


82     THE    BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

If  a  mark  may  be  made  on  a  suspected  sheet,  a  drop 
of  water  should  be  put  upon  one  corner,  left  a  second  or 
two,  and  then  dried  off  with  l>lotting-paper.  Now  a  light 
scrape  with  a  knife  over  the  damped  place  will  remove  a 
layer  of  white  clay  if  it  is  there. 

There  is  no  doul)t  that  the  lar^e  majority  of  our  modern 
books  will  not  he  in  readable  condition  in  about  a  hundred 
years'  time  from  the  date  of  their  publishing. 

BOOKS  TO  CONSULT. 

Paper. 

Arts,  Society  of. — Eeport  on  the  Deterioration  of  Paper.  Lavdnn, 
1898. 

Blades,  W. — {Athenaum,  March  ;i()th,  1889,  p.  409.  Paper  on 
Watermarks) . 

Blanchet,  a. — Essai  sui-  I'histoire  des  Papier.     Fan's,  1890. 

Breitkopf. — Yersuch  die  Einfuhruug  des  Leinenpapieres.     Leijiziy, 

1784-1801. 
Briquet,  C.  M.  —La  Legende  Paleographique  du  Papier  de  Coton. 

Geneve,  1884. 

Briquet,  C.  M. — Eecherches  sur  les  Papiers  du  x*^  au  XIY^  siecles. 
Paris,  1886. 

Campredon,  E. — Le  Papier.     Paris,  1901. 

Charpextier,  p. — Le  Papier.     1890.      (Fremy,  E.) 

DuxBAE,  J. — Notes  on  the  Manufacture  of  Wood  Pulj)  Paj^ers 
Leith,  1892. 

Erfurt,  J. — The  Dyeing  of  Paper  Pulp.     London,  1901. 

Evans,  L. — Ancient  Paper  Making.     London,  1896. 

GiRARD,  A.— Le  Papier.     LiUe,  1892. 

GooDCHiLD,  G.  F.,  and  Twexey,  C.  F. — A  Technological  and 
Scientific  Dictionary.     London. 

Griffik,  E.  B.,  and  Little,  A.  D.— The  Chemistry  of  Paper 
Making.     New  York,  1894. 

Herring,  E. — Paper  and  Paper  Making.     London,  1855. 

HoERNLE,  A.  F.  B. — Who  was  the  inventor  of  Eag  Paper  ?  [Royal 
Asiatic  Society  Journal,  October,  1903). 


PAPER.  83 

HOYER,  E. — Die  fabrikation  des  Papiers,  1886.     (Bolley,  P.  A.) 

Karabacek,  J. — Mittheilungen  aus  der  Sammlung  der  Papjrus 
Erz.     Rainer.     Bd.  II.,  III.,  1887. 

K\Y,  J.— Paper.      London,  189.3. 

Klemm,  p. — Handbuch  der  Papierkunde.     T.cljiziii,  190-1. 

Lloyd,  E. — Account  of  a  sort  of  Paper  made  of  Linum  A.sbestimim 
found  in  Wales.     (Phil.  Trans.,  Abr.  III.,  p.  105,  1684). 

MiERZlNSKi,  S. — Handbuch  der  Praktischen  Papier  Fabrikation. 
Wien,  1886. 

Payex,  a. — La  fabrication  du  Papier.     Paris,  1873. 

PlOT,  G.  J.  C,  and  PiN'cn.VRT,  A. — Specimens  des  Papiers  recueillis 
dans  les  diverses  coll.  de  documents  qui  composent  les  archives 
generales  du  Royaume  de  Belgique.     BrnxelJes,  1872. 

Sartori,  L. — L'Industria  del3a  Carta.     Milano,  1897. 

ScHAEFER,  J.  C. — Attempts  towards  making  Paper  from  Plants  and 
Wood.     (German.)  Il>'(/eii.'iiiir(/,  1765. 

Stonhill,  W.  J.— Paper  Pulp  from  Wood  and  other  fibres.  1885. 
(Eattray,  J.) 

Valenta,  E.— Das  Papier.     Ilal/e,  1904. 

Watt,  A.— The  Art  of  Paper  Making.      London,  1890. 

WiESXER,  J. — Mikroskopischc  untersuchung  alter  ostturkestanischer 
und  anderer  asiatischer  Papiere.     ]Vieii,  1902. 


Watermarks. 

Briquet,  C.  M. — De  la  valeur  des  Filigranes  du  Papier  comme 
Moyen  de  determiner  I'age  de  documents.     Geneve,  1892. 

Briquet,  C.  M. — Papiers  et  Filigranes  des  archives  de  Geves  1154 
a  1700.     Genere,  1888. 

Briquet,  C.  M. — Les  FiUgranes.  Diet.  Hist,  des  Marques  du 
Papier.     4  vols.     Fan's,  1907. 

Castax,  a. — Catalogue  des  Incunables.     Besau^on,  1893. 

Del  Marmol,  F. — Dictionnaire  des  Filigranes.     Paris,  1900. 

Dexxe,  S. — Observations  on  Paper  Marks,  1796.  {Arclueologia, 
XII.,  p.  114). 

Heitz,  p. — Les  Filigranes  avec  la  crosse  de  Bale.  Strashanrf/, 
1904. 

Heitz,  P. — Les  FiHgranes  des  Papiers  contenus  dans  les  archives 
de  la  ville  de  Strasbourg.     Strasbour;/,  1902-04. 

G  2 


HI      TIIK    IJOOK:    ITS    HISTOllY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

Heit/,  p. — Los  I'^ilif^raneH  des  ]'a])i('is  do  l:i  I'ililiotlioquo  do 
Rtriis])()urf».      Sfnishonr;/,  190;}. 

Lkmon,   p.— Collection  of  Wutor  ISrarks.      IS'U. 

MiDoux,  E.,  and  Mattox,  A. — Etudes  sur  les  Fili{i;ranoH  doK 
Pupiers  ciujiloyes  en  France  an  XIV*"  et  XV"  sieclos.     I'nrin,  ISGS. 

PiOT,  G.  J.  C,  and  Pixciiaut,  A. — Specimens  de.s  Papiers  recueillis 
dans  les  divorsos  coll.  dos  documents  qui  com])O80nt  les  archives 
^cncrales  du  Royaumo  do  Polf;i(iuo.     Jlrnnl/rM,  lH't2. 

Sekma  Saxtaxdkk,  ('.  A.  do.— Supi)l('iMont  au  ("atalof^ue  -des 
livres  do  la  Bibliotlio(iue  do  M.  C.  de  .Senna  Santander.  lirnxi'Uvs, 
1803. 

SoTHEBY,  S.  L. — Principia  Typoprraphica  (with  examples  of  foreign 
watermarks).     Luinloii,  IHoS. 

SoTiiKBY.  S.  L. — Typography  of  the  fifteenth  centurj- (with  examples 
of  watermarks).      London,  1845. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


PRINTING. 

Assyrian  bricks,  with  printed  insci-iptions — Oiron  ware — Chinese 
types — Block  books — Costeriana— Types  and  stereotypes — Print- 
ing presses. 

There  are  numbers  of  instances  of  impressions  from 
small  devices,  cyphers  and  letlerinj^'s  cut  on  blocks  of  wood 
or  soft  metal  and  made  on  pieces  of  pottery.  These  stamps 
are  the  forerunners  of  the  types  with  which  our  modern 
books  are  printed.  Among  these  impressions  those  which  are 
made  on  the  tablets  or 
cylinders  of  baked  clay, 
many  of  which  have 
been  found  among  the 
ruins  of  Babylon  and 
Nineveh,  are  by  far  the 
earliest.  They  are  covered 
with  inscriptions  printed 
in  cuneiform  characters, 

and  contain  records  of  sales  of  slaves,  loans  of  money,  sales 
of  land  and  the  like,  and  on  the  larger  bricks  and  cylinders 
are  longer  inscriptions  of  greater  interest,  among  them 
stories  of  the  Flood.  Many  of  these  records  are  contained 
within  an  outer  shell  of  the  same  shape,  in  which  is  either 
a  short  title  with  seal  or  even  a  duplicate  inscription.  These 
outer  cases  are  the  earliest  examples  of  anything  in  tlie 


Fig.  00.— Assyrian  tablet  of  clay, 
impressed  with  cuneiform  inscrip- 
tion.    With  outer  case. 


80     THE   V,()()K:   TTS   HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

shape  of  a  cover  or  Inndinj:,'  over  written  or  printed  matter. 
Some  of  the  cuneiform  liricks  are  said  to  date  from  the 
third  thousand  years  ji.c,  and  many  of  tlie  later  exami)les 
helonged  to  the  lihraries  of  Sennacliniih  and  Ashurhani- 
I'al,  Kings  of  Assyria. 

Similar  hricks,  impressed  with  inscriptions,  have  been 
found  in  North  America.  Tiie  h-tters  on  tliese  bricks, 
tablets,  or  cylinders  were  printed  letter  by  letter  by  hand 
upon  the  clay  when  it  was  wet  and  soft,  without  ink,  then 
the  brick  was  dried  either  in  an  oven  or  in  the  sun,  so 
that  this  earliest  method  of  printing  is  diametrically  oppo- 
site to  the  modern  process,  in  which  case  the  letters  are 
inked  and  kept  rigid,  while  the  paper  or  other  substance  on 
which  the  impression  is  to  come  is  lightly  pressed  upon 
them. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  Chinese  made  types  of  clay 
or  porcelain,  and  set  them  up  in  a  frame  and  printed  from 
them,  and  afterwards  they  cut  the  original  types  in  wood 
and  made  impressions,  or  stereotypes  from  them  in  por- 
cehiin,  and  when  this  had  been  baked  they  cast  leaden 
types  from  it.  Chinese  and  Japanese  letters  are  always 
most  decorative,  whether  in  the  cursive  or  square  seal 
characters. 

Babylonian  and  Assyrian  taldets,  cylinders,  and  cones  of 
baked  clay  impressed  with  cuneiform  inscriptions  have 
proved  themselves  to  be  the  most  permanent  and  reliable 
form  of  record  that  has  yet  been  invented  by  mankind. 
The  hammer  alone  seems  to  be  able  to  destroy'  them. 

The  most  precious  faience  in  the  world  is  that  variously 
known  as  "  Oiron,"  "  Henri  Deux,"  "  Diane  de  Poictiers," 
or  '•  Faience  de   Saint  Porchaire,"     There  are  fewer  than 


PRINTING. 


87 


seventy  pieces  of  this  ware  known,  and  each  example  is  a 
masterpiece,  no  two  being  ahke. 

It  is  said  to  consist  mainly  of  clay  found  at  Saint  Por- 
cliaire,  a  village  in  Poiton,  and  not  far  from  Oiron,  and  at 
one  of  these  places  it  was  probably  made. 

The  pieces  are  often  ornamented  with  armorials  and 
devices  of  Francis  I.,  Henri  II.,  and  Diane  de  Poictiers, 


Fig.  07. — Ituliuu   book   stuinps   improssed   upon   the   faience  de 
St.  I'urchiiire. 


as  well  as  those  of  meml)ers  of  the  French  nobility  of  about 
the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

There  are  jugs,  covered  cups,  biberons,  dishes,  salts, 
flower  vases,  and  candlesticks,  all  curioiisl}-  put  together  in 
sections,  and  ornamented  with  impressions  from  binders' 
stamps  run  in  with  differently  coloured  clays. 

This  use  of  binders'  stamps  is  unique,  and  has  been  made 
with  the  utmost  skill  and  taste.  Sometimes  casts  have 
been  made  from  the  stamps  so  that  the  impression  shows 
in  reversed  colours.  The  ornamentation  is  like  a  book- 
finisher's  work,  and  several  of  the  same  stamps  and  rolls 
show  on  contemporary  Italian  bookbindings.  At  that  time 
there  was  a  strong  Itahan  influence  both  in  French  as  well 
as  in  English  decorative  bookbindinus. 


88     THE   HOOK:    ITS    HISTORY   AND  DEVPZLOPMENT. 

It  has  already  been  supposed  that  the  ware  may  liave 
been  sent  as  a  present  to  Henri  11.  from  the  family  of 
Catherine  de  Medici,  and  M.  H.  Uelange  even  goes  so  far  as 
to  credit  Gii'olamo  della  Piobbia  with  the  work.  He,  as  well 
as  many  other  Florentine  craftsmen,  worked  in  France  for 
Francis  I. 

It  is  not  now  likely  that  any  defhiitc  knowledge  as  to  the 
maker  of  the  Saint  Porchaire  Faience  will  evt-r  be  obtained, 
but  it  will  always  be  a  notable  example  of  the  high  decora- 
tive importance  of  binders'  stamps,  which  are  designed 
upon  certain  principles,  especially  with  regard  to  their 
combination  in  groups  or  lines  of  groups. 

Attempts  to  imitate  this  ware  have  often  been  made,  but 
so  far  they  have  failed ;  the  original  seems  to  possess 
qualities  and  peculiarities  that  are  impossible  to  imitate 
closely.  Art  forgeries  are  now  so  common  and  so  excellent 
that  there  are  really  very  few  things  that  cannot  be  copied 
so  exactly  that  it  is  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the 
original  and  the  copy,  but  the  Saint  Porchaire  ware  is  so 
far  one  of  the  very  few  things  that  completely  baffle  the 
cleverest  artist,  and  this  is  largely  due  to  the  curious  use  of 
the  binders'  stamps. 

Engraved  wooden  blocks  were  used  in  China,  Corea,  and 
Japan  as  early  as  the  sixth  century,  and  quite  lilcely  long 
before.  These  blocks  were  cut  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
European  block  books,  except  that  type  and  illustrations 
were  not  shown  on  the  same  block.  In  Thibet  similar 
blocks  were  cut  and  charms  were  jDrinted  from  them. 

The  use  of  separately  engraved  types  which  could  be 
arranged  as  desired  seems  to  have  been  known  in  these 
countries  at  about  the  same  time,  but  it  was  not  so  suitable 


PRINTING.  89 

to  their  then  requirements,  and  so  it  made  no  headway. 
They  soon  reverted  to  the  simple  block  en -graving  as  better. 
No  doubt  the  reason  of  this  was  that  the  number  of 
separate  letters  that  might  be  required  was  so  great  that  it 
was  practically  prohibitive.  The  letters  both  in  China  and 
Japan  are  still  mainly  in  the  syllabic  stage,  and  so  there 
are  a  great  number  of  them.  The  alphabetical  stage  is, 
however,  giadually  being  reached,  especially  in  Japan. 

It  is  very  likely  that  the  European  idea  of  cutting  block 
books  was  borrowed  from  China,  and  here  from  the  later 
half  of  the  fifteenth  century  until  the  earlier  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century  such  books  were  produced  })lentifully  in 
Germany,  Holland,  and  England,  and  more  rarely  in 
France. 

Single-sheet  pictures  were  made  at  first,  the  earliest  dated 
example  known  being  the  "  St.  Christopher  "  of  1423,  now 
in  the  Rylands  Library  in  Manchester.  From  being  cut  on 
wood  these  curious  prints  are  generally  known  as  xylo- 
graphs. Criticism  and  comparison  of  them  is  a  very 
difficult  matter,  as  they  were  designed  and  cut  on  such 
broad  and  easy  lines  that  they  were  easily  copied  almost 
exactly,  but  now  all  the  important  and  very  early  specimens 
are  so  well  known  and  have  been  so  carefully  listed  and 
described  by  competent  bibliographers  like  Mr.  Gordon 
Duff,  Sir  Martin  Conway,  Hain,  Ottley,  Bradshaw,  Hessels, 
Proctor,  and  others,  that  there  is  little  risk  of  fraudulent 
imitation  remaining  long  unrecognised. 

The  block  book  proper  'however,  shows  text  as  well  as 
illustrations,  the  text  gradually  becoming  more  and 
more  important.  Block  books  are  printed  in  pale  coloured 
ink,  so  that  they  may  take  colour  as  well  as  possible,  and  are 


no     TUK  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

usually  coloured  more  or  less,  sometimes  by  hand  and  some- 
times by  means  of  stencil  plates,  or  perhaps  a  combination 
of  both  methods.  Many  of  them  are  astronomical,  but  as  a 
rule  the  subjects  are  more  or  less  religious,  such  as  the  "Ars 
Moriendi"  or  "  Biblia  Pauperum  "  ;  the  illustrations,  and 
the  text  being  variously  arranged.  Each  page  is  cut  on 
one  block,  sometimes  printed  page  by  page,  sometimes  two 
p.iges  at  a  time,  and  always  on  one  side  of  the  paper  only. 

Now  and  then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  "  Speculum  Humanae 
Salvationis,"  the  text  is  separately  cut;  this  remarkalde 
book  is  supposed  to  have  been  printed  at  Utrecht  about 
1470-72.  Block  books  are  always  printed  on  paper  of 
excellent  quality. 

Printing  from  moveable  types  in  Europe  is  considered  by 
many  authorities  to  have  been  invented  by  Laurens  Janszoon 
Coster,  of  Haarlem,  during  the  earlier  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  Actual  proofs  are  wanting,  but  there  exist  several 
books  and  fragments  of  books,  many  of  which  have  been 
recovered  from  the  boards  of  old  bindings,  which  certainly 
are  not  the  work  of  Gutenberg.  These  fragments  were 
printed  in  Holland,  and  are  known  as  "  Costeriana " ; 
several  of  the  letters  used  correspond  to  the  Dutch  manuscript 
letters  of  the  time,  and  many  of  them  are  copies  of  the  school 
books  known  as  "  Donatus'."  Some  of  the  letters  look  much 
as  if  they  had  been  cut  in  wood.  At  Avignon  it  is  recorded 
that  in  1444  experiments  with  printing  types  were  made. 

The  Coster  legend  appears  to  have  been  started  by 
Adrianus  Junius,  who  in  his  Batavia,  published  at  Ant- 
werp in  1588,  speaking  of  Haarlem,  says:  "  Redeo  ad 
urbem  nostram  cui  primam  inventae  ist  hic  artis  typogra- 
phical gloriam  deberi." 


PRINTING.  91 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Costeriana  have  a  family 
likeness  between  them,  and  the  types  used  in  them  have 
been  carefully  compared  by  Mr.  Hessels  with  those  found 
in  tlie  edition  of  xElius  Donatus'  grammars,  and  in  the 
Doctrinale  of  Alex,  de  Villa  Dei,  and  in  his  opinion  they 
have  the  same  origin. 

Whether  the  rival  claims  of  Avignon,  Haarlem,  or  Mainz, 
for  the  honour  of  having  been  the  first  town  in  which 
printing  from  moveable  types  w^as  done  in  Europe  will  ever 
be  finally  settled,  is  questionable.  But  there  is  no  doubt 
that  Joliann  Gutenberg  was  the  first  printer  in  Europe  who 
made  printing  with  moveable  type  of  real  usefulness.  In 
1472,  Fichet  wrote  that  Gutenberg,  who  worked  in  Mayence, 
was  the  first  inventor  of  the  art  of  printing  by  means  of 
moveable  types.  Curiously  enough  the  work  credited  to  him 
shows  no  amateur  feeling  whatever.  Both  the  Indulgences 
of  1454,  which  wvAy  be  his,  and  the  Mazarin  Bible  of  about 
1455,  which  certainly  is,  are  as  finely  and  perfectly  printed 
as  any  books  ever  have  been  since. 

It  must  be  noted  here  that  certain  authorities  still  main- 
tain that  this  Bible  was  printed  by  Fust  and  Schofter,  but  the 
weight  of  expert  opinion  is  nevertheless  strongly  in  favour 
of  Gutenberg. 

But  however  this  may  be,  in  the  case  of  the  beautiful  Mainz 
Psalter,  we  are  on  absolutely  safe  ground.  In  this  book 
appears  the  date  1457,  and  also  the  names  of  the  printers 
Johann  Fust  and  Peter  Schofter.  It  is  in  every  way  a 
magnificent  specimen  of  typography,  and  the  letters  are 
very  large.  It  is  also  a  fine  example  of  colour  printing,  as 
the  initial  letters  are  cut  in  wood  and  printed  in  red  and 
blue.      Peter    Schofter   was    originally   an    illuminator    of 


02     THE   HOOK:    ITS    IIISTOllY   AND    UEVHLOPMKNT. 

manuscripts,  and  no  doubt  we  owe  the  splendid  initials  of 
the  Mainz  Psalter  to  his  liking  for  colour. 

The  first  printed  date  in  a  Dutch  book  is  1473,  when 
books  were  printed  both  at  Utrecht  and  Alost. 

The  moment  separate  letters  were  cut  in  wood  \<)v  the 
purpose  of  printing,  it  must  have  been  obvious  to  any  work- 
man interested  in  the  matter  that  it  would  be  far  better  to 
use  them  as  models  only,  and  that  for  actual  use  casts  in 
soft  metal  would  be  more  economical.  In  J.  E.  Hodgkin's 
"  Rarioni  "  "there  is  an  excellent  detailed  account  of  the 
manner  in  which  types  are  cast. 

At  first  the  method  of  casting  type  was  i)robably  much 
the  same  as  it  is  now,  except  that  it  was  done  slowly  by 
hand  instead  of  quickly  by  machines.  The  matrix  was  set 
at  the  bottom  of  a  short  funnel  in  a  little  hand  press.  This 
press  was  held  in  the  left  hand,  funnel  upwards,  then  a 
little  melted  metal  was  run  in  from  a  ladle  held  in  the  right 
hand.  The  metal  set  almost  immediately,  and  the  little 
letter  was  jerked  out,  to  be  trimmed  by  hand.  "What  the 
earliest  metal  used  for  types  was  cannot  now  be  known  for 
certain,  but  it  was  probaljl}'  much  the  same  as  is  now  used, 
lead  with  tin  and  antimonj',  and  perhaps  a  little  copper — a 
composition  which  expands  in  cooling.  By  this  hand  pro- 
cess a  good  workman  could  produce  two  or  three  thousand 
letters  in  a  day. 

Now  things  are  managed  differently,  and  there  are  several 
automatic  machines  which  not  only  save  the  handwork  of  a 
type  caster,  but  do  the  work  equally  well  and  at  a  much 
greater  speed. 

For  the  casting  of  separate  letters  the  Wick  Rotary  type 
casting  machine  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  ingenious.     It 


PRINTING.  93 

consists  of  a  horizontal  wheel  with  radiating  channels  in 
which  the  matrices  of  the  various  letters  are  set.  The 
wheel  revolves,  and  as  the  opening  of  each  little  channel 
reaches  a  certain  point  a  jet  of  type  metal  is  driven  into  it 
and  forms  a  letter.  A  little  more  revolution  and  the  letter 
is  automatically  ejected  and  caught  on  an  endless  chain. 
This  machine  is  capahle  of  producing  50,000  letters  in  an 
hour. 

The  monotype  is,  however,  even  a  cleverer  invention 
hecause  it  only  casts  the  particular  letter  that  is  wanted. 
An  operator  translates  the  manuscript,  hy  means  of  a  key- 
board, into  a  series  of  holes  on  a  strip  of  paper.  This  strip 
then  moves  on  to  the  monotype  machine,  which  not  only 
casts  the  letter  indicated  by  each  hole,  but  puts  it  in  its 
proper  place,  and  jerks  it  forward  until  one  line  is  com- 
plete. On  the  completion  of  a  line  the  machine  has  a 
spasm,  and  the  line  is  driven  l)odily  upwards,  leaving  a 
space  for  the  next  line.  This  is  probably  the  printing 
machine  of  the  future,  as  it  only  requires  the  one  operator, 
who  translates  the  manuscript  into  dots. 

The  methods  used  in  the  Linotype  and  the  Monoline  are 
somewhat  similar,  and  effected  by  the  use  of  a  key-board, 
but  instead  of  casting  each  letter,  like  the  monotype,  they 
cast  complete  lines,  which  are  more  troublesome  to  correct 
if  any  mistake  creeps  in. 

When  the  printing  press  was  first  used  is  not  known, 
but  the  printing  of  the  block  books  would  no  doubt  have 
suggested  some  sort  of  board  press  long  before  types  were 
used  in  Europe.  A  Ijlock  book  might  be  printed  by  hand  only, 
but  it  would  be  a  troublesome  and  laborious  process,  and 
the  use  of  a  flat  padded  board  to  put  over  the  whole  block 


!)4     THE  BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


and  press  upon  it  seems  obvious  enough,  and  the  screw 
press  evolved  itself  out  of  some  such  expedient.  The 
familiar  napkin  press  with  a  large  wooden  screw  and  cross 
handle  is  the  type  of  the  earliest  printing  presses  of  which 
we   possess   any  record,   the   screw  presently  giving  way 

before  the  more  effective  lever 
handles,  and  it  should  not  be 
forgotten  that  excellent  results 
can  be  obtained  from  these  old 
presses  acting  with  a  direct 
downward  pressure.  They  are, 
however,  very  slow  in  action, 
and  that  is  not  consistent  with 
modern  requirements. 

The  Dutch  were  the  pioneers 

in      improvements     in     these 

presses,  and  W.  J.  Blaew,  of 

Amsterdam,  a  clever  engraver, 

printe]",    and    mechanician    of 

the  seventeenth  century,  made 

several  improvements  in  many 

of    the    details,    especially    as 

regards  the  box,  table,  or  forme, 

in  which  the  type  was  set.    But 

until    Charles,    third    Earl    Stanhope,    invented    the   iron 

printing  press  with  levers,  in  1800,  they  were  always  made 

of  wood,  with  screw  handles. 

Lord  Stanhope  was  a  most  remarkable  man.  He  was  not 
only  an  ardent  politician  but  also  a  notable  man  of  science 
and  an  inventor.  Among  other  things  we  owe  to  him  the 
Stanhope  lens ;    a    system    of    logotypes,    which  was  not 


Fig.      68.  —  Printing 
of      about      1600. 
Stradanus. 


press 
From 


FEINTING.  95 

received  by  the  printing  trade  with  much  sympath}-, 
because  it  lessened  the  need  for  hand  labour,  improvements 
in  stereotyping,  and  above  all  the  Stanhope  press,  which 
would  have  made  a  fortune  for  its  inventor  if  he  had  wanted 
it.  Lord  Stanhope,  however,  gave  his  press  to  the  Clarendon 
Press  at  Oxford,  in  exchange  for  a  pension  to  his  assistant. 
This  press  with  its  levers  was  for  a  long  time  the  model  for 
all  printing  presses  used  in  this  country. 

But  before  the  Stanhope  press  was  invented,  W.  Nicholson, 
of  London,  had  patented,  in  1790,  a  de\'ice  which  was 
destined  to  supersede  Lord  Stanhope's  lever  press  and  all 
others  like  it.  This  was  the  use  of  a  revolving  iron  cyUnder 
driven  by  steam  to  carry  the  paper  over  the  inked  surface  of 
the  type.  Nicholson's  invention  fell  flat  so  long  as  it 
remained  in  his  hands,  but  in  about  1807  it  was  taken  up 
by  Koenig,  of  London,  improved,  and  put  upon  the  market, 
and  it  attracted  the  attention  of  Mr.  Walter,  of  The  Times. 

In  the  issue  of  this  paper  on  the  20th  of  November,  1814, 
readers  were  informed  that  it  was  printed  by  steam 
machinery  driving  the  C3'linders  holding  the  paper.  By 
cylinder  presses  upwards  of  9,600  impressions  can  be  made 
in  an  hour.  Minor  improvements  since  that  time  have  been 
legion,  and  it  may  safely  be  said  that  no  more  wonderful 
sight  is  to  be  seen  in  the  whole  of  London  than  the  printing 
of  one  of  our  great  daily  papers. 

Newspapers  are  usually  printed  from  stereotypes  fixed  on 
cylinders  ;  but  books  are  always  printed  from  Jiat  formes, 
the  paper  being  applied  by  cylinders.  Paper  can  now  be 
printed  on  both  sides  simultaneously.  In  Rotary  machines 
both  the  printing  as  well  as  the  receiving  surfaces  are 
arranged  on  cylinders. 


or.    Till-:  r.ooK:  ri's  iiis'i'okv  wn  i»i:\'i:loi'mknt. 

'J'lic  locking'  u\)  of  tyi><'  in  iIh'  cas(;  ol  Ion;,'  hooliK  was 
soon  loiiiid  to  1)(!  ii  ^r(;at  inconvenience,  and  the  idea  of 
niaKiii;^;  a  cast  of  such  type  in  the  form  of  a  hlock,  so  as  to 
set  tlie  ori^^'iiial  type  free,  was  an  ohvioiis  one.  It  was  not, 
however,  imt  into  piaclical  fctrni  until  tlu*  eai'ly  part  of  the 
nineteenth  cent  my,  when  someone  unknown  made  casts  from 
l)ook  types  in  plaster  of  Paris.  Ijord  Stanhope  made  several 
improvements  in  this,  and  it  is  possihle  that  the  use  of 
softened  paper  i)ulp — tlon^' — for  this  purpose  was  his  inven- 
tion. ^Vht■tll(•r  this  is  true  or  not,  pajier  was  certainly 
used  for  stereotyping'  in  France  ahout  1850,  and  it  has 
heen  universally  used  in  this  important  connection  ever 
since. 

The  paper  pulp  is  hammered  on  to  the  type  by  means  of 
a  hard  brush,  in  exactly  the  same  way  that  antiquaries 
make  impressions  from  incised  rock  sculptures.  The 
antiquaries,  however,  make  their  casts  from  the  paper 
moulds  in  plaster  oi  Paris,  hut  the  printer  makes  his  in 
soft  metal. 

When  the  paper  mould  is  properly  dry  and  hard  the 
melted  metal  is  poured  over  it,  and  makes  a  perfect  cast. 
Such  casts  can  either  be  used  flat  for  book  printing,  or 
curved  to  tix  on  cylinders  for  newspaper  printing.  The 
metal  used  is  practically  the  same  as  tvpe  metal.  It  sets 
very  quickly,  and  the  heat  necessary  to  melt  it  is  so  low, 
that  several  casts  can  be  made  from  one  paper  mould. 

Another  way  of  making  a  harder  printing  plate  is  by 
means  of  a  galvanic  battery.  In  this  case  the  mould  from 
the  type  is  made  in  wax,  either  impregnated  or  carefully 
dusted  %Yitb  black  lead,  and  these  moulds,  w  hen  correct,  are 
put  into  a  galvanic  bath,  where  a  strong  metallic  deposit  is 


PRINTING.  97 

laid  all  over  them,  the  deposit  being  afterwards  backed  up 
with  alloy. 

Good  types  have  always  been  ditlicult  to  design.  The 
types  used  in  block  books,  and  in  early  printed  books  gene- 
rally, were  simply  copies  of  the  handwriting  of  the  periods 
to  which  they  belonged.  Even  in  later  and  in  modern 
times  certain  founts  have  been  designed  on  the  lines  of 
cheirographic  writing,  for  example,  the  "  caracteres  de 
civilite,"  much  likt-d  l»y  French  printers,  imitated  the 
graceful  calligraphy  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

But  a  certain  ditl'erentiation  in  the  direction  of  square- 
ness soon  became  apparent,  as  we  have  already  noticed 
in  the  case  of  rock  inscriptions  ;  it  was  found  easier  to 
cut  S(puirely-shai)ed  letters  than  rounded  or  cursive 
forms. 

So  letters  cut  for  the  purpose  of  being  printed  tt-iided 
gradually  to  ditTerentiate  themselves  from  their  written 
analogues,  and  a  new  kind  of  designing  came  into  exist- 
ence. It  was,  however,  always  necessary  to  preserve  as 
much  of  the  original  form  of  tiie  letters  as  possil)le,  other- 
wise they  might  fail  to  be  recognised. 

Printers  have  always  liked  to  show  their  types,  and  from 
the  catalogue  printed  by  Sclu')ti'er  about  14G9  to  Caslon's 
eighteenth  century  specimens,  there  have  been  numbers  of 
them  made  and  issued.  A  short  study  of  these  specimens 
will  show,  firstly,  how  very  much  they  are  copied  one  from 
another,  and  secondly,  that  no  designer  of  genius  seems 
ever  to  have  ai)peared.  All  that  can  be  said  is  that  some 
are  uglier  than  others.  It  has  not  been  for  want  of  trying, 
as  Geoffrey  Tory  shows  in  his  Champjieiirji,  but,  except 
as  to  Greek  types,  in  which  Robert  Procter  has,  b}'  his 
XL;.  n 


!).s    'I'lii:  r.ooK:   I'i's   iiis'i'()i{^-  ANi>  i»i;\i:i.ni'.Mi;N'i'. 

counsel,  met  with  iiiiicli  success,  there  is  no  douht  tliat 
^ood  types  foi"  |)iiiiliii;^'  are  rare. 

In  tlie  eifTht(!enth  century  P.  E.  Fourjiier  caused  much 
iiiiprovenient  in  French  types,  hoth  hy  his  example  and  his 
wrilinj^'s.  lie  was  the  son  of  a  typefounder,  and  hej,'an  as 
a  wood  eiij^Miivei',  hut  eventually  followed  in  his  father's 
footsteps  and  hecanie  a  typefoinider  himself.  Fournier 
puhlished  a  tahle  of  types  in  1787,  with  supjj^estions  for 
d('si<;nin«^'  them,  hut  his  most  important  w<jrk  is  the  .V<//*//(7 
tl/]K>iirtijilii(iiif,  wliieh  is  an  important  work  on  the  suhject, 
and  had  widespread  influence. 

In  the  matter  of  facsimiles  of  early  printed  hooks,  it  may 
he  well  here  to  say  a  word  or  two  of  warning,'.  Thotoj^raphy 
has  revolutionised  many  tliin;:;s,  it  has  destroyed  some  of 
the  minor  arts,  hut  in  hook  production  it  has  had  far- 
reachinjj;  etVect,  much  of  which  is  f,'Ood. 

It  has  also  oi)eued  up  several  new  industries,  and  now 
photo-lithographs,  collotypes,  half-tone  hlocks,  and  prints 
from  line  hlocks  made  hy  the  swelled  gelatine  or  other 
processes,  can  he  so  wonderfulh*  like  the  original,  that  a 
page  of  old  printing  made  hy  one  or  other  of  these  methods 
will  often  deceive  an  ordinary  purchaser.  There  are  many 
such  facsimiles  in  the  market,  and  the  best  advice  I  can  give 
as  to  them  is  that  very  great  attention  should  be  given  to 
the  paper  on  which  they  are  done,  as  this  will  often  give 
the  secret  away.  The  texture  and  appearance  of  old  pa])er 
is  worthy  of  careful  study,  because  nearly  all  the  photo- 
mechanical processes  need  a  paper  which  is  radically 
differe]it  to  the  thick  good  rag-made  papers  which  were 
used  before  cheap  modern  papers  were  thought  of. 

Type  founding  in  England  was  first  carried  on  in  the 


Two  Lines  Great  Primer. 

Ououfque  tandem 
abutere  Catilina,  p 
^luoujque  tandem  a- 
butere^  Catilina^pa- 


Two  Lines  Englifh. 


Quoufque  tandem  abu- 
tere, Catilina,  patientia 
noftra?  quamdiu  nos  e- 
^oiifque  tandem  abutere 
Catilina^  patientia  nojira? 

Two  Lines  Pica. 

Quoulque  tandem  abutere, 
Catilina,  patientia  noftra  ?  qu 
^oufque  tandem  abutere^  Ca- 
tilina^ patientia  no/tra?  quam- 

Page  from  William  Caslon's  •'  Si)ecimen  of   Printing 
Types."     {London,  1766.) 

[To  face  p.  98. 


PRINTING.  99 

sixteenth  century,  when  John  Day  made  some  Anglo-Saxon 
types  for  Archbishop  Parker. 

Moxon,  who  wrote  the  "  Mechanics  of  Printing  "  in  1698, 
issued  the  first  Enghsh  specimen  sheet  of  types  in  1(509, 
and  in  177(3  WiUiam  Caslon,  "  Letter-founder  of  London," 
issued  a  specimen  of  his  printing  types. 

John  Baskerville,  who  lived  and  worked  about  the  same 
l)eriod,  was  also  a  very  eminent  typefounder,  but  Basker- 
ville's  types  were  too  thin  in  the  up-strokes  to  be  considered 
equal  to  Caslon's.  Since  that  time  such  sheets  of  types 
have  become  common. 

Late  in  the  nineteenth  century  William  Morris  revived 
several  of  the  old  English  block-letter  t^^pes,  and  called 
them  by  the  old  names,  "  Chaucer,"  "  Golden,"  '*  Troy." 


WORKS    TO    CONSULT. 

Ameuicax  Aut  Review,  I. — 18no,  jij).  TJ-so.     Iii>s(i>ii. 

Berlax,    F. — La   invenzione    deUa   staiuim    u    tijiu    mobile    fuso 
rivendicata  all'Italia.     Firenze,  1882. 

Blades,    W. — "Who    was    the    iuventor    of    Printing?       Loiahm, 
1.S87. 

BouciioT,  II.— Le  Livre.     y'a//«,J88(j. 

BoucHOT,  H.— L'G^uvre  de  Gutenberg.     Pariti,  1888. 

Breitkopf,  J.  G.  L. — Yersuch  die  einfuhrung  des  Leinenpapieres, 
&c.     Leipziij,  1784-1801. 

BuciiER,  B. — Die  Faiencen  von  Oiron.      ]Vieii,  1879. 

Degeorge,  L. — L'luiprimerie  en  Europe  aux  XV«  ot  XVL'  siecles. 
Pari."!,  1892. 

Lelanqe,    H.    &    C — Recueil  de  .  .  .la  Faience  dite  de  lienri  II. 
Paris,  1861. 

Delox,     C. — Gutenberg  et   I'invention    de   I'lmprimerie.      Paris, 
1881. 

DuPOXT,  p. — Histoire  de  I'lmprimerie.     Paris,  1883. 

H  2 


100    THl-:    l'.()(»l>::    IIS    IIISTOKV    A  M  >    1  >i:Vi:L(  H'MIINT. 

Encycloivkuia     IJuiTAXNicA.  — Typogriii)hy      :iii(l    Pnnting.      ]ij' 
John  Soutiinvaud. 

Entschedk,  C. — L.  J.  ("obUt  do  uitvindcr  van  dc  bockdrukkuuKt. 
JIaarlcm.     1904. 

Faui.mann,     ('. — Tlluslrirtt!     j,'eschichti-     d*r     Hiichdnickorkiinht. 
ir»>//,  INSl. 

l''lLl/)X,  H.      lii's  Faiences  d'Oiron.      I'mis,  lH(>li. 

l'\)Ui!NlKi;,   1'.  S. — Manuel  typofijiajilncjue.      I'lirix,  ITOl-OO. 

GoEHEL,  T. — Vr.    Koenig   und  dio    Erfindun^    der    Schndlpresse. 
StiiH.,  1883. 
,    IIessels,  J.  H. — Gutenberg.     Lnnilui,,  1882. 

Hessels,  J.  II.— Ilaarlcni  tlje  birtlijilace  of  Printing.    Linidmi,  1887. 

IIODGKIX,  J.  E.— Kariora.      /.dudiot,  190'J. 

Julien. — I/Iniiiriiuerie  en   ehine  au  .sixieme  siccle  de  notre  ere. 
Paris,  1850. 

Junius,  A.— IJatavia.     Aniircr/i,  1.j88. 

LiNDE,  A.  V.  D. — Geschichte  der  Erfindung  der  Buchdruckerkunst. 
Berlin,  1886. 

Maittaire,  !Nr. — Annales  Typographical.     Ilat/ae,  1719. 

Malinkeot,    15.   A. — Do   ortu   artis  Typogi-aphical,     Col.  J(/rij)ji, 
1639. 

Mahtens,  W.  J. — Gutenberg  und  die  Erfindung  der  Buchdrucker- 
kunst.    KdrJsriiJie,  1900. 

Middleton-Wake,  C.  H. — The  Invention  of  Printing.      London, 
1897. 

MouET. — Les  machines  et  appareils  Typogi'aphiques.     Paris,  1879. 

MoxNOYER,    C. — Eecherches    sur     les    origines    de    I'lmprimerie 
avant  Gutenberg.     Le  Alcnis,  1888. 

Noble. — Machine  Printing.     Londan,  1883. 

Pollaed,  a.  "W. — Titlepages  and  Colophons. 

Eenault,  E. — Debuts  de  I'lmprimerie.     Qitebn;  1905. 

ScHAAFER,  J.  C. — Attempts  towards  making  Paper  from  Plants  and 
Wood.     (German.)     Reyensburg,  1765. 

Singer. — Eesearches  into  the  History  of  Playing  Cards. 

Smith,  G. — Assyrian  Discoveries.     London,  1875. 

Solon,  H.  L. — History  of  old  French  Faience.     (Saint  Porchaire.) 
London,  1903. 

Tainturier,  a. — Les  Faiences  dites  de  Henri  II.     Paris,  1860. 

ViTU,  A.  C. — Histoire  de  la  Typographic.     Paris,  1886. 


FEINTING.  101 

WOLFIUS,  J.  C. — ^fonuineuta  Typographica.     Humbimj,  1740. 
WiLSOX,    F.    J.    F. — Typographic    Printing    Machines.       Loiulun, 
lf^3. 
WiLSOX,  F.  J.  F.— Stereotyping  and  Electrotyping.     Ldndoii,  1880. 

N.B. — There   are   a   large   number   of  works    on   this   subject,    both 
general  and  concerning  Printing  in  particular  countries. 


ciiaitet:  V 


1  LMSTIIATIONS, 


Wood  oiigi-aviiifj: — Line  fn<riaviMg — Etching  —  Stipple — Mezzotint — 
Aquatint— Lithography — Photography. 

Writing  in  early  manuscripts  was  continuous,  no  stops, 
no  spaces,  no  initials.  The  inconvenience  of  such  an 
arrangement  soon  became  apparent ;  the  effect  of  it  can  l)e 
well  seen  in  the  case  of  the  Codex  Alexaiidrittus,  written  in 
the  fifth  century,  although  this  has  large  initials,  and  the 
difficulty  of  knowing  when  a  word  ends  is  bad  enough,  to 
say  nothing  of  sentences.  The  manuscript  is  at  the 
British  ^luseum. 

Presently  the  first  letters  of  sentences,  or  perhaps  of 
important  words,  were  enlarged  or  rubricated — marked  in 
red — and  from  that  starting  point  came  the  gradual  develop- 
ment of  beautiful  ornamental  letters  with  sprays  starting 
from  them.  These  sprays  ultimately  became  rich  border- 
ings  and  spread  all  over  the  page,  and  at  last  we  get  to  the 
illuminated  manuscripts  of  mediaeval  times  filled  with 
exquisite  miniatures,  borders,  and  arabesques  of  all  imagin- 
able kinds. 

The  subject  of  illuminated  manuscripts  has  been  fully 
dealt  with  by  several  competent  authorities,  and  it  is  not 
necessarj'  here  to  enter  into  it,  but  so  far  as  printed  books 
are  concerned  it  will  be  of  interest  to  survey  shortly  the 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  108 

chief   styles   of   illustrations  with  which  they  have   been 
provided. 

•^"When  printed  books  first  began  there  were  no  illustra- 
tions in  them,  but  initial  letters  were  often  added  in  red,  by 
hand,  and  other  important  printed  letters  were  marked  by 
a  dab  of  red  or  yellow  across  them.  The  outline  wood 
cuts  which  shortly  made  their  appearance  were  frequently 
intended  to  serve  as  guides  for  hand  colouring,  and  many 
of  them  are  so  treated. 

Wood  cutting  in  the  case  of  block  books  was  well  under- 
stood in  the  fifteenth  century,  but  when  similar  illustra- 
tions appear,  in  company  with  the  text,  in  early  printed 
books,  the  art  level  both  of  the  designer  and  wood  cutter  is 
singularly  low.  This  criticism  only  applies  to  the  pictorial 
illustrations,  as  in  the  matter  of  scroll  work  or  ornamental 
initials  the  work  is  excellent. 

The  great  letter  "  B  "  in  Fust  and  Schoffer's  Mainz 
Psalter,  issued  in  1457,  is  as  fine  as  anything  of  its  kind 
that  has  ever  been  done.  It  is  printed  from  two  wood 
blocks  which  fit  into  each  other,  and  which  were  inked 
alternately  either  red  or  blue,  and  then  printed  together 
with  the  text.  A  slow  process  but  thoroughly  effective. 
The  initial  letters  throughout  this  book  seem  to  have 
been  touched  up  in  places  by  hand,  especiall}^  in  the  long 
scrolls  which  meander  up  and  down  the  margins  of  the 
pages. 

The  earliest  known  book  illustration  cut  on  wood  is  a 
beautiful  outline  sketch  of  the  Goddess  of  Mercy.  It  is 
full  page  and  illustrates  a  chapter  from  a  Chinese  version 
of  the  Saddharmapundarika  Sutra,  and  was  printed  in 
1331,  nearly  a  hundred  years  before  the  earliest  European 


i((i  nil';  i'.(»nK':  I'i's  nisT<»i;v  AND  i>i;vi;l<)|*mhnt. 

print  from  a  wood  block,  the  St.  Christopher,  of  1-1'28, 
which  moreover  was  not  a  hook  ilhistration. 

Chinese,  JaiJaiiese,  Jind  Korean  wood  cuts  are  always  in 
outline,  thickened  here  and  there,  but  quite  different  in 
character  and  far  better  in  drawing  and  execution  than 
early  European  work  of  the  same  sort.  Most  of  the  blocks 
from  wliicli  these  prints  an;  made  are  of  soft  wood,  not 
box,  and  are  cut  willi  a  short  knife  of  j)eculiur  form  set  in 
a  handle. 

The  drawings  are  made  on  thin  paper  and  stuck  down- 
wards on  the  blocks  ;  then  the  knife  is  carefully  run  along 
the  edges  of  the  various  lines,  cutting  outwards,  the  inter- 
linear spaces  being  cut  away  with  a  gouge  and  hammer. 
The  wood  cutting  was  often  done  by  women.  The  method 
of  work  is  probably  tiie  same  as  was  used  in  Europe  in  the 
case  of  early  blocks. 

Besides  the  design  block,  always  printed  in  dark  neutral 
tint  or  black,  during  the  eighteenth  and  succeeding 
centuries,  the  Chinese  and  Japanese  cut  accessory  blocks 
which  were  inked  in  various  colours.  The  registering  of 
the  various  colour  blocks  was  managed  either  by  pegs  or 
notches,  and  the  colours  were  mixed  with  water  or  rice 
paste.  Most  of  the  European  colour  processes  of  printing 
require  oil  colours,  Init  water  colours  on  the  Japanese 
principle  have  been  used  with  admirable  effect  in  some  of  the 
illustrations  to  Henry  Shaw's  books  on  Mediaeval  Dresses 
and  Decorative  Arts,  and  notabl}'  by  Edmund  Evans 
and  his  successors  in  more  recent  times. 

From  the  earliest  illustration,  mentioned  above,  until 
the  present  da}',  the  style  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  wood 
illustrations  has    not   altered.     There   have    been  several 


CamoroUdcorati^Iicaldamcntifopralcnmafuflfraginecufnuau 
aperaone.rcuinai  ftriclamenteconfibuUn  cucorigietrajoflate  per  Icfi- 
bulcdoro^&altramcntecilanfulctrcdi  corqua  aurei  cum  cxquifitainno 
datura comcndau".  Etouccrailconfincdillacircunftanriadillc  fimbrie, 
diincxcogitabiJccordellaturaornaccDalcmoderatcaurcipulfclcrotua 
dc&clcphandnegambcfpcfTc  fiatcalquamo  manifcflarc 


EllcdunqucduncanimaducTTcndoalhora.il  Nymphcogradoaffcr" 
mando  ftctcron.uacabondcdalfuodolce canto, rcpcntinamcntc inua- 
fcdaqucftanouitatcdimcinqiicllolocoaducnticio.  Etmutuamcte  m2 
raucgliannTc&curiofctacitamptccxplorantime,infol(mtcgliapparuc& 
inufitato.TnqucIlacclcbrcpatriahomoalicno&cxtranociifiacafocflc 
rcpuenuto.  Pcrlaqualccagioncpcr  unopocodirpatioflcterontracfTc 
unaallalfracumfccrctomurmunllo.&moltcfiatcarimirarmc  fcrutaric 
icIinantiTe.Qijalcnphantafmaftatoioriifrc.Omciomcfcntiuain  quel 
pun<f>o  tuttcIcuirccrequanarcQualefogliedi  Accoriuibrateadglt  im 
pctuofi  ucnri.Impochcapcnaraflicurato  effendodil  crebro  dido  fpaue 
to.chcimmeuiite&mcnfamcccarbitridoinfehauerc.olcralacoditionc 
ruana.altronoronofcedo.diUadiuinauifioedubitaichcallaancrea.Sc 
melcappuc.Dalla  (Imalata  forma  di  Beroe  Epidauradccepta.Hcu  me  da 
caporcomrciaiditrcptdare.piunmidodiuenuto.chelipauidi  hymnuli 
lafulua  Lceiudi  famerugif  ce  ucdcdo.Tramccotedetcfead  terra  fuppli- 

Page  from  the  "  llypneiotouiacliiu  Poliphili." 
{Venice,  1499.) 

[To  face  p.  104. 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  lOo 

engravers  of  great  skill  iu  both  countries,  but  I  think  the 
Japanese  colour  prints  are  best  known  to  us. 

The  blocks  are  frequently  signed  with  tlie  names  of  the 
designers,  particular!}*  in  later  times,  and  many  names  are 
already  well  known  to  collectors. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  Korin  was  one  of  the  best  of 
the  .Japanese  illustrators  ;  in  the  eighteenth  century  there 
is  admirable  work  signed  by  Hokusai  and  Iliroshige,  and 
among  the  many  skilled  designers  of  the  nineteenth 
century  the  work  of  Kitigawa  I'lamaro  is  perhaps  the  best 
known. 

The  first  Italian  book  in  which  wood  engravings  were 
used  is,  as  far  as  is  now  known,  the  "  Meditations  "  of 
Turrecremata,  printed  at  Rome  in  1467,  by  Ihich  Jiahn. 
Tlie  iihistrations  are  of  a  simple  character  in  outline. 
Then  came  instances  in  books  printed  at  Naples,  Rome, 
Verona,  and  especially  at  Venice,  where  Erhard  Ratdolt 
produced  several  with  beautiful  initials,  borders,  and 
pictures.  Numbers  of  the  books  i)ublished  at  Venice  in  the 
later  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  are  illustrated  with 
exquisite  wood  cuts ;  among  them  the  most  celebrated 
and  the  most  beautiful  is  the  Ili/jmerotomadiia  PuUphili, 
printed  in  1499. 

This  celebrated  book  was  written  by  Francesco  Colonna, 
whose  name  is  curiously  shown  by  the  initials  of  the 
chapters,  which  read  "  Poliani  Frater  Franciscus  Columna 
peramavit,"  "  Brother  Franciscus  Columna  loved  Polia 
very  much."  Polia  has  been  presumably  identified  with 
Lucretia  Lelio,  who  was  a  native  of  Treviso,  the  place  of 
Polifilo's  dream.  The  many  engravings  are  in  outline, 
and  several  of  them  uie  full  page. 


106  THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

Italians  lyive  alwaj^s  excelled  in  wood  cutting,  but 
although  there  have  l)een  numbers  of  illustrated  books 
issued  in  the  si>:teonth  and  later  centuries,  those  of  the 


iifteenth    centufy    still    remain    pre-eminent.      Dr.    Paul 


century    siui    remani    pre-ennneni.      ur.    raui 
Kristeller  l/as,  Moreover,  shown  that  the  Italian   printers 


devices  ar^well  worthy  of  attention,  and  many  of  them 
are  very  ime  both  in  design  and  execution. 

]Mock  books,  Japanese  wood  blocks,  and  all  very  early  wood 
cuts,  were  cut  by  a  knife,  and  sticli  outline  work,  not  too 
small,  is  easiep*  to  execute  with  a  properly  shaped  knife 
than  with  anything  else.  But  as  soon  as  wood  cutters 
began  to  be  more  skilled,  and  compared  their  work  with 
line  engraving,'  they  found  that  a  knife  was  not  so 
useful  as  an  engraver's  burin,  and  so  wood  ejigraimg, 
as  distinct  from.  ciittiii;i,  came  into  being.  The  cuts  in 
the  Nuremberg  Chronicle  of  1493  show  some  sort  of  a 
transitional  stage  ;  there  are  hatchings  and  shadowings 
which  would  have  been  much  more  easily  done  with  a 
graver  than  with  a  knife,  but  I  believe,  nevertheless,  they 
are  all  knife  work. 

Eoughly  speaking,  it  is  easier  to  cut  a  broad  outline 
drawing  with  a  knife  than  with  a  graver,  and  it  is  easier  to 
cut  a  small  detail  drawing  with  a  graver  than  with  a  knife. 
At  the  same  time  we  must  remember  that  a  skilled  engraver 
could  execute  either  sort  of  engraving  in  the  wrong  way, 
just  as  William  Harvey  cut  his  well  known  wood  blocks  of 
the  Death  of  Dentatus  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  every 
technical  peculiarity,  except  one,  of  an  engraving  on  metal. 

Both  wood  blocks  and  metal  blocks  intended  to  illustrate 
printed  books  were  always  made  of  the  same  depth  as  the 
type,  so  that  they  could  all  be  printed  together,  and  that  is 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  107 

done  to-day  in  the  case  of  process  or  half-tone  blocks,  which 
are  actually  wooden  blocks  faced  with  the  soft  metal  bearing 
the  design.  There  is  always  some  interest  in  the  question 
as  to  whether  a  certain  print  has  been  cut  on  a  wood  block 
or  on  a  metal  block,  and  if  the  print  is  in  perfect  condition  it 
is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  decide.  But  it  is  rarely  that 
some  small  defect  or  peculiarity  does  not  appear  by  help 
of  which  a  tolerably  certain  judgment  can  be  arrived  at. 
Early  engraved  blocks  were  often  used  again  and  again 
until  they  became  quite  old,  and  at  last  they  were  got  at  by 
insects  who  ate  small  holes  in  them.  If  therefore  a  print 
shows  little  white  circular  marks  ui^on  it  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  was  made  from  a  wood  block.  Instances  are  by  no 
means  unknown  in  which  experts  have  decided  that  a 
certain  block  had  been  cut  on  metal,  and  a  later  impression 
has  turned  up  icitlt  iroDit  liolen  in  it .'  The  grain  of  wood 
will  sometimes  show  on  an  old  print,  or  a  broken  edge  will 
show  a  sharp  fracture  indicating  wood,  in  contradistinction 
to  a  rounded  one,  indicating  metal. 

The  blacks  on  prints  from  an  engraved  metal  plate  always 
show  very  even  spaces,  and  there  are  usually  plenty  of  them, 
often  broken,  however,  by  small  white  dots,  the  presence  of 
which  denotes  the  stjde  known  as  Pointille,  the  finest 
examples  of  which  can  be  found  among  the  French  Horte 
printed  for  Pigouchet  in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  metal 
used  was  probably  a  sort  of  pewter,  lead  and  tin,  very  easy  to 
engrave  upon,  and  strong  enough  to  bear  many  printings. 
But  in  many  instances  these  little  blocks  seem  to  have  been 
roughly  treated  and  have  fallen  about,  and  the  result  is 
that  outer  lines  which  show  perfectly  straight  in  early 
copies,  show  as  slightly  rounded  lines  on  late  ones.      This 


108   THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

is  taken  as  a  decided  proof  that  the  original  block  was  made 
of  soft  metal,  although  I  am  by  no  means  certain  that  it  is 
impossible  for  a  straight  edge  on  wood  to  warp  into  a 
curved  line. 

Prints  from  old  wood  cuts  in  outlines  were  frequently 
added  to  early  printed  books  and  painted  over  thickly  with 
opaque  colour  so  as  to  produce  a  different  design.  The 
original  outline  has  only  been  used  as  a  slight  guide. 
Instances  of  these  curious  changes  can  be  found  in  numbers 
of  the  fine  vellum  books  illustrated  in  colour  which  were 
printed  for  Antoine  Gerard  at  Paris  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

In  other  cases,  particularly  in  Italy  and  France,  orna- 
mental printed  borders  and  illustrations  have  been  very 
carefully  painted  by  hand  just  as  if  they  belonged  to 
ordinary  illuminated  manuscripts.  But  the  art  work  in  all 
these  cases  is  not  good.  The  true  illamiiiatores  were 
obsolescent.  A  few  instances  of  attempts  at  colour  printing 
either  by  means  of  blocks  or  stencil  plates  were  made  by 
Erhard  Eatdolt  at  Venice,  and  a  few  others. 

There  are  two  distinct  schools  of  wood  engraving,  and 
they  are  easily  recognised  from  each  other  whenever  either 
of  them  is  exclusively  new,  but  the  large  majority  of  the 
more  recent  book  illustrations  cut  on  wood  show  traces  of 
both  styles. 

These  styles  are  firstly  that  of  the  black  line,  the  type  of 
which  may  be  found  in  Caxton's  Myrrour  of  the  Woiide 
printed  in  1481,  and  secondly  that  of  the  white  line,  the  best 
type  of  which  may  be  found  in  the  Histori/  of  British  Birds, 
illustrated  with  engravings  by  Thomas  Bewick  in  1797. 

In  judging  whether  an  illustration  in  a  book  is  printed 


y  court  of  6jn; 
gcoof  p:tnce0 
ant)^  of  Cbwno 
come  ^  f20oe^ 
ofQ^cdSojjpquC/ 
Of  t^iefctcn? 
cc  tBcw  <jo6:aj?< 

^^attt)?^? 

twee  ^d^c  %  nc^  feme  n)  affc  caufce/an^  w;  aff«  ng?; 
«e  g  wojfe«/tBft>  flB^  fotcS  e§e  fc^cc  of  (5«t0)j^uc/ 
^  f^tb  Kno®  t^  tpij?^  ^  e^  tStonjG/ffw  fo  %o  SStonge 
<o  ano<^  5Mb  (o  ^  t(/«f  ^ic  g  ?ampncCj^/(:  f):  fo  »o 
•^S?*  ^  tffoi)  <o  m^niat)/ijit  ie  (auc^  ^gc&t^  t§c  G>uc 

"^  of  go^  6»«5 «« i 

r 

'glS?ewf  ttpzo; 


I 


fcj^a  10 

— . mffc^  a«fm«(n 

Page  from  Caxton's  "  Myrrour  of  the  Worlde."      {London,  1481.) 

[To  face  p.  108. 


TLLUSTRATTOXS.  109 

from  a  block  cut  and  printed  in  the  manner  of  a  wood  block, 
the  first  thiiir,'  to  observe  is  whether  the  black  lines  are 
pressed  into  the  paper  or  not.  The  amount  of  the  depres- 
sion of  the  black  lines  may  be  very  slight,  but  it  must 
always  be  looked  for  because  although  the  necessary 
pressure  for  printing  from  type  and  block  is  slight,  still 
there  is  always  some  of  it,  and  before  the  introduction  of 
the  modern  clay-laden  papers,  the  paper  used  for  printing 
upon  was  always  softened  by  damp,  and  consequently  very 
susceptible  to  pressure.  If  the  depression  of  the  black  lines 
can  be  recognised,  the  print  is  made  from  a  block  of  some 
sort,  and  printed  with  a  slight  pressure. 

William  Blake's  curious  illustrated  poems  are  exceptions 
to  any  rule.  He  was  very  poor  and  unable  to  af!brd  to 
have  his  writings  properl}'  published,  so  he  wrote  and  drew 
them  out  himself  on  copper,  and  then  etched  away  the 
ground  very  strongly  so  as  to  leave  his  lines  in  relief.  The 
plates  were  then  printed  as  relief  blocks.  As  curiosities 
they  are  of  great  interest,  and  they  preserve  the  individual 
touch  of  the  artist  to  just  about  the  same  extent  as  an 
etching  does.  The  process  is  exactly"  analogous  to  the 
manner  in  which  names  or  designs  are  etched  on  sword 
blades,  key  rings,  knife  blades  and  the  like,  only  Blake 
allowed  the  acid  to  work  a  little  more  strongly  so  as  to  get 
a  slightly  higher  relief. 

The  first  English  printed  book  that  is  illustrated  is 
Caxton's  Mt/rrour  of  the  Worhle,  j)rinted  in  1481  ;  the  cuts 
are  quite  elementary  in  character,  like  all  the  wood  cuts  in 
English  books  for  a  long  time.  Ornamental  borders  are 
found  in  Caxton's  Fifteen  Oes.,  printed  about  1490. 

Early  English  books  were  not  freely  illustrated,  and  it 


no   TIIK    I'.(M»K':    ITS    IIISToKV    AN!)    DKVKLOPMKNT. 

must  be  Hupposftd  thai  wood  cuttciH  were  scarce.  Many  of 
the  cuts  used  are  of  foreign  origin.  One  early  hook  is 
cliiirniiiigly  ilhistratcd  in  colour;  DiUiic  JuMana  13erneK' 
so-called  liitoLiij' St.  Alliiutx,  printed  in  1  lH(i,  has  a  long  series 
of  coats-of-anns  priiiicil  from  wood  hlocks.  The  colour  has 
heen  added  cilhcr  fioiii  other  hlocks  separately  inked  or 
elsi)  hy  means  of  stencil  plates. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  wood  illustrations  hecanie  more 
numerous,  but  many  of  them  were  still  of  foreign 
workmanship. 

Borders  and  designs  by  Holbein  were  used  by  Pynson, 
and  these  had  a  renaissance  feeling  which  was  quite 
foreign  to  the  existing  style.  The  mixed  style  which 
consequently  made  its  appearance  is  very  curious.  It 
shows  well  in  the  semi-classical  device  of  Lucretia  used  by 
Thomas  lierthelet,  royal  printer  to  Henry  VHI.  Towards 
the  end  of  the  century  there  were  several  large  volumes 
of  chronicles  published  in  England,  Halle,  Grafton  and 
Holinshed,  and  these  and  similar  volumes  are  all  well 
illustrated  with  wood  cuts.  Foxe's  "  Book  of  Martyrs,"  pub- 
lished in  15(38  b}-  John  Day,  is  also  an  example  of  a  well 
illustrated  and  popular  book,  the  cuts  in  which  were  all 
probably  made  here. 

"Wood  engra\-ings  in  England  gave  way  gradually  in  the 
seventeenth  and  the  earlier  half  of  the  eighteenth  centuries 
before  the  advancing  tide  of  line  engraving,  but  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  Thomas  Bewick  came  to  give 
it  a  new^  impetus.  Bewick's  style  was  quite  original,  and 
although  his  particular  "  white  line  "  style,  good  as  it  was, 
does  not  ever  seem  to  have  retained  any  hold  upon  the 
mass  of  engravers,  yet  somehow  or  other  we  find  that  the 


''-^^^t^^is^'-^^' 


The   Peaccjck.''      Wood   engraving    by   Thos.     Bewick,     from    the 
"History  of  British  Birds."     {Ntiocnstlf,  1797-1804.) 


[To  face  p.  110. 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  Ill 

revival  of  wood  cutting,  both  here  and  abroad,  is  generally 
put  down  to  his  influence. 

Bewick  worked  on  an  entirely  ditl'erent  principle  to  that 
of  any  of  his  predecessors.  He  gave  up  imitating  the  black 
line  of  the  metal  engraver  and  used  the  while  line  to  gain 
his  effects.  No  doubt  this  is  the  true  theory  of  wood 
engraving.  Bewick  took  several  apprentices,  many  of 
whom  afterwards  became  famous,  but,  curiously  enough, 
none  of  them  kept  long  to  their  master's  style.  In  modern 
days  Timothy  Cole  has  revived  the  use  of  the  white  line ; 
his  work  is  most  excellent  and  learned  in  every  way.  I 
have  never  found  a  wrong  line  in  it,  and  if  Bewick  had  not 
sliown  the  way,  and  therefore  put  Mr.  Cole  in  the  position 
of  a  follower,  tbe  latter  would  have  ranked  as  the  greatest 
master  wlio  has  ever  worked  on  wood  on  the  white  line 
principle. 

William  Harvey  was  one  of  Bewick's  apprentices;  he  did 
an  immense  quantit}'  of  work,  wliicli  is  always  excellent. 
He  soon  gave  up  Bewick's  "  white  line,"  and  most  of  his 
wood  engravings  are  like  line  engravings  on  copper.  The 
engraving  of  the  Death  of  Dentatus,  after  B.  R.  Haydon,  is 
Harvey's  most  celebrated  piece  of  work.  It  shows  every 
appearance  and  characteristic  of  a  line  engraving,  but  the 
black  marks  are  in  intaglio.  It  is  a  tour  dc  force,  and 
cannot  but  be  considered  as  a  waste  of  energy.  It  was 
engraved  upon  several  blocks  clamped  together  by  an 
iron  band,  and  prints  of  it  cnn  now  and  then  be  picked  up 
at  printsellers  for  two  or  three  shillings,  as  it  is  seldom 
recognised  as  a  wood  engraving. 

Luke  Clennell  also  worked  with  and  helped  Bewick,  and 
much  of  his  early  work  is  like  that  of  his  master.     But, 


1T2  Tin-:  r.ooK:  ITS  iiisToKv  AND  I)i:vi:loi>mi:n't. 

like  Harvey,  Clennell  Boon  evolved  a  Mtyle  of  liis  own.  He 
cut  some  of  tlie  beautiful  little  cuts,  after  Stotliard,  in 
Kogers'  "  rieasures  of  Memory."  No  douht  the  Bewick 
training  liad  iiiui-li  iiilluciice  for  g(j()d  over  ClenneirH 
maiuifr. 

Cliarlloti  Xcsltjl  followed  Bewick  closely  for  a  tim«',  and 
then,  like  his  fellow  api)rentices,  he  worked  out  his  own  style. 
His  work  is  very  good  and  true,  and  he  was  particularly 
successful  ill  his  illustrations  to  Northcote's  Fables  and 
liinahlo  and  Ariiiidti. 

John  Thompson  was  quite  one  of  our  greatest  wood 
engravers.  He  w'orked  well  into  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  did  an  immense  quantity  of  work.  He  engraved  a 
celebrated  set  of  illustrations  to  the  J'ivar  of  Wakefield, 
after  Mulready,  and  was  also  very  successful  with  those  to 
Tasso's  La  Gerusalemme  Liheiata  in  182().  His  work  is  quite 
different  from  that  of  Bewick. 

The  nineteenth  century  in  England  was  rich  in  numbers 
of  excellent  wood  engravers,  and  a  list  of  their  names  alone 
would  be  a  long  one.  A  proof  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  the  work  of  many  of  these  artists  was  held  is  to  be 
found  in  the  fact  that  their  services  as  engravers  were 
freely  sought  by  continental  publishers  of  finelj'  illustrated 
books. 

J.  B.  Jackson,  who  introduced  tone  colour-printing, 
actuallj'  worked  with  J.  M.  Papillon  in  France  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  Then  there  were  the  Landells,  Gray, 
Whimper,  "Wright,  Folkard,  and  Green,  and,  quite  late  in 
the  century,  J.  W.  Whymper,  Horace  Harral,  James  Cooper, 
"W.  J.  Linton,  the  Dalziels,  and  Swain.  These  two  last 
have  signed  an  immense  quantity  of  excellent  work,  but 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  113 

they  were  large  firms,  and  the  greater  part  of  their  work 
was  done  hy  their  workmen.  ^laiiy  of  the  artists  of  this 
time  did  most  excellent  work  as  designers  for  wood 
engravings,  especially  Sir  John  Millais,  D.  G.  Rossetti, 
Fred.  Walker,  Fred.  Sandys,  Lord  Lei^diton,  Birket  Foster, 
Sir  I'],  Burne-Jones,  G.  dii  Maiirier,  and  Cecil  Lawson. 

J.  M.  Papill()n,who  worked  dm'ing  the  earlier  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  helonged  to  a  French  family  of  wood 
engravers,  and  wrote  a  treatise  about  wood-cutting  with  the 
knife,  which  is  of  great  interest.  His  work  is  small  and 
excellent.  Pajiillon  makes  mention  of  a  foreigner  who 
worked  with  him  and  used  tlii!  '/((/  of  the  wood  to  work 
upon,  and  that  he  used  a  graver. 
This    foreigner    is    supposed    to      1    .- 

have    been    the    English    artist      ^- '       — 

J.  B.  Jackson,  who  was  eminent     Fig.  Gt).— Kuife  for  cugrav- 

,  ,  ,  ini?  on  soft  wood. 

here  not  only  as  an  engraver, 

but  also  as  the  pioneer  hi  the  matter  of  colour-printing  from 

wood  blocks. 

No  doubt  up  to  about  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century  wood  cuts  had  been  made  on  planed  pieces  of  pear 
or  other  soft  wood  cut  lengthways.  The  grain  upon  such  a 
piece  of  wood  necessitating  the  use  of  a  knife  to  cut  it,  the 
knife  may  be  a  single  blade  or  a  double  l)lade  of  the  kind 
known  as  a  "  scrive,"  but  it  cannot  be  cut  with  a  solid 
graver. 

It  is  i^ossible  enough  that  to  Jackson  we  owe  the  idea  of 
making  engravings  on  the  cross-cut  of  a  piece  of  wood,  and 
if  so  he  is  entitled  to  great  honour,  as  all  wood  work  since 
his  time  has  been  done  in  that  way.  The  graver  had  long 
been  used  on  metal,  but  until  the  device  of  cutting  blocks 

T.I5.  I 


Ill    TIIK    HOOK:    ITS    HlSTOJ;V    AKD   DKVKLOl'MKNT. 

across  the  grain  of  a  hard  wood  was  thouglit  (jf  it  could  not 
he  used  on  wood.  Hard  wood  was  now  wanted  with  as 
little  grain  as  possible,  and  hex  is  the  ideal. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  much  excellent  wood  engraving 
was  done  in  France,  Indeed,  after  a  period  of  prac- 
tical non-existence  the  art  once  more  became  one  of  great 
importance,  and  a  school  of  wood  engraving  grew  up  that 
was  not  only  very  large,  but  the  work  done  was  of  very  high 
quality. 

Bewick's  style  is  not  there,  although  it  seems  likely  that 
the  revival  was  really  due  to  his  influence ;  the  old  black 
line,  resembling  the  engraved  metal  line,  holds  undisputed 
sway.  Moreover,  the  French  nineteenth  centur}^  revival 
owes  much  directly  to  the  work  and  influence  of  another 
great  English  wood  engraver,  J.  Thompson,  and  with  him 
worked  an  equally  great  French  engraver,  H.  L.  Breviere. 
These  two  men  were  highly  gifted,  and  their  work  is  always 
of  a  high  order,  and  they  met  with  much  powerful  support 
from  contemporary  engravers,  follow-ers  of  their  own,  the 
excellence  of  whose  work  in  many  instances  ran  their  own 
very  close. 

Among  the  many  engravers  of  this  time  whose  work  is 
always  pleasant  to  meet  with  and  admire  we  may  particu- 
larly note  Thiebault,  S.  Soyer,  Sears,  Porret,  Pioux,  La 
Coste  and  both  his  sons,  Eouget,  and  Nivet. 

The  work  of  many  of  our  contemporary  English  engravers 
was  also  much  liked  in  France,  and  they  often  helped  to 
illustrate  fine  French  books.  Among  the  more  notable  of 
these  engravers  we  find  the  names  of  Orrin  Smith,  Thomas, 
Samuel,  and  Mary  Ann  Williams,  and  A.  Best. 

It  must  be  noted  that  the  work  of  the  artists  whose  work 


ILLUSTRAT10^'S.  115 

was  interpreted  by  this  school  of  highly-skilled  engravers 
was  admirably  fitted  for  small  book  vignettes,  especially  the 
military  designs  so  profusely  issued  b}'  Meissonier,  Horace 
Vernet,  and  Kafifet,  and,  for  larger  work,  the  charming 
figures  of  Gavarni. 

Augsburg  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  a  great  centre  of 
wood  engraving.  A  Bible  with  small  woodcuts  was  issued 
there  about  1470  by  Jodoc  Ptlauzmann.  These  cuts  were 
meant  to  be  coloured  by  hand.  Several  other  books 
illustrated  with  woodcuts  w'ere  issued  by  Gunther  Zainer 
and  Johan  Bamler. 

Then  notable  illustrated  books  were  published  at  Ulm 
and  Lubeck,  and  from  Nuremberg  we  have  the  great 
"  Nuremberg  Chronicle,"  full  of  woodcuts,  the  best  of  which 
are  cut  by  Wilhelm  Pleydenwurff  and  Michael  Wohlge- 
muth. The  work  in  this  book  gets  away  from  the  mere 
outline,  and  we  find  much  clever  hatching  and  shading,  but 
there  is  much  coarseness.  From  Basle  came  Seb.  Brant's 
celebrated  "  Narrenschiff,''  one  of  the  most  popular  books 
ever  written,  and  illustrated  with  most  amusing  cuts  of 
the  various  follies  of  the  various  sorts  of  fools  described. 
Albrecht  Diirer  did  a  few  illustrations  for  books  towards 
the  end  of  the  fifteenth  and  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
centuries. 

Several  more  illustrated  wood  books  were  issued  from 
Nuremberg,  Basle  and  Zurich,  and  some  of  the  printers' 
devices  were  designed  b}"  Holbein. 

During  the  seventeenth  centur}^  a  lull  occurred  in  the 
production  of  German  books  illustrated  with  woodcuts; 
Ivat  the  art  has  always  been  popular  in  Germany,  and  it 
never  quite  died  out. 

I  2 


ik;  Till",  r.ooK:  ri"s  iiisrouv  and  dkvkloi'Mkxt. 

Tho  very  dcconitivo  "  Triinnpli  ot  the  Eiupeior  Muxi- 
iniliau,"  with  large  woodcuts,  designed  by  Hans 
Burgkmeier  of  Augsburg  in  the  early  sixteenth  century, 
was  published  in  1790.  German  wood  engraving  for 
books  revived  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  became 
of  high  excellence.  German  wood  engravings  have 
had  a  certain  strength  and  vigour  all  their  own  from 
the  time  of  the  "Nuremberg  Chronicle"  until  modern 
times. 

Artists,  moreover,  have  not  been  wanting ;  the  quite 
delightful  vignettes  of  A.  Schrodter,  L.  Eichter,  G. 
Osterwald,  E.  Jordan  and  otbers,  have  received  adequate 
and  sympathetic  treatment  at  the  hands  of  engravers 
who  are  second  to  none.  Nuzeluiann,  E.  Kretschmar, 
A.  Vogel,  Beneworth,  Joch,  and  the  Leipzig  firms  of 
Allanson  and  Sears,  Nicholls  and  Bosse,  and  Peupin,  some 
of  whom  were  foreigners. 

Line  engraving  on  a  small  scale  plays  an  important 
part  in  book  illustration.  It  is  the  simplest,  and  yet 
requires  the  most  technical  skill  of  all  the  methods  of 
marking  metal  surfaces  for  the  purpose  of  making  prints. 
The  engraver  cuts  out  a  thread  of  metal,  producing  a  little 
track  on  the  surface,  and  to  do  this  properly  requires  the 
utmost  skill. 

It  has  been  held  for  a  long  time  that  prints  from 
engraved  metal  plates  owe  their  existence  to  the  proofs  in 
sulphur  which  were  taken  from  time  to  time  from 
engravings  intended  to  be  filled  with  niello. 

In  the  museum  at  Berlin  there  is  a  print  on  paper  from 
an  engraved  metal  plate,  representing  the  Flagellation  of 
Christ.     It  is  German  work  and  dated  1446.     The  lettering 


ILLUSTEATIONS.  117 

shows  rightly  on  the  print,  so  the  engraving  was  made 
with  the  intent  that  prints  should  be  made  from  it. 

There  is  in  the  Bargello  Museum  at  Florence  a  beautiful 
Pax  with  a  nielloed  plate  attributed  to  Maso  Finiguerra, 
the  date  of  which  is  put  at  1452.  From  this  plate,  before 
it  was  nielloed,  prints  on  paper  were  taken,  and  one  of 
them  is  at  Paris.  But  the  letterings  on  this  engraving 
read  rightly  on  the  metal,  so  it  was  not  engraved  with  the 
intent  that  prints  should  be  made  from  it ;  indeed,  the}',  as 
well  as  the  impressions  in  sulphur,  were  only  made  to 
help  in  the  working. 

So  that  it  is  only  safe  to  say  that  the  possibility  of 
making  prints  on  paper  from  engraved  metal  plates  was 
known  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  both  in 
Germany  and  in  Italy. 

i/To  make  a  jDrint  from  an  engraved  plate  requires  great 
pressure,  as  the  paper  lias  to  be  forced  down  into  every 
mark,  and  the  resulting  mark  on  the  paper  is  consequently 
always  in  relief. 

;  The  principle  of  a  print  made  from  an  engraved  wood 
block  is  that  the  projecting  parts  are  covered  with  a  thin 
film  of  ink,  and  when  the  paper  is  lightly  pressed  down 
upon  these  lines  it  picks  up  the  ink  from  the  surface 
wherever  it  touches  it.  In  the  case  of  an  engraved  metal 
plate,  the  lines  on  which  are  cut  in  the  same  way  and  with 
a  similar  graver  to  that  used  for  white  line  engraving  on 
wood,  the  inking  and  printing  is  quite  different.  Now  it  is 
the  incised  lines  which  print  black,  and  in  order  to  ensure 
this  the  whole  plate  is  well  rubbed  over  with  ink  so  as  to 
fill  up  all  the  incised  lines,  and  then  the  unengraved 
polished  surface  is  carefully  wiped  clean  so  as  to  leave  the 


lis   'I'lIK    I'.OOK:    ITS    niSTOKV    WD    DKVKLoi'M  KNT. 

ink  sticking  in  all  tlie  dots,  lines  and  curves.  Now  dami)ed 
paper  is  very  strongly  pi'cssed  upon  the  inked  j)late,  so  as 
to  be  S(jueez{Hl  right  down  into  every  dot,  linc^  and  curve. 
The  paper  consequently  is  in  relief  wherever  it  has  been 
pressed  into  a  depression,  and  as  there  was  ink  there 
waiting  for  it,  it  will  he  found  to  have  picked  up  and 
absorbed  all  the  ink,  so  that  the  print  shows  black  lines  in 
low  relief. 

It  will  be  easily  realised  that  a  print  from  an  engraved 
metal  i)late  cannot  be  printed  with  ordinary'  type  at  the 
same  operation  a  wood-block  can,  so  that  whenever  a  book 
occurs  in  which  such  engravings  show  on  the  same  page 
with  type,  there  must  have  been  two  printings,  one  strong 
for  the  engraving  and  one  light  for  the  type. 

We  Ihid,  therefore,  that  in  several  instances  where 
engraved  illustrations  have  been  used  for  a  book  which  is 
for  the  most  i)art  i)rinte(l  from  type,  that  the  small  piece 
of  text  which  comes  on  the  same  page  as  the  engraving, 
is  also  engraved.  Not  only  this,  but  from  time  to  time 
entire  books  have  been  engraved,  illustrations  as  well 
as  text.  The  finest  English  example  of  such  work  is 
to  be  found  in  tlie  beautiful  edition  of  the  works  of 
Horace,  plentifully  illustrated  and  engraved  through- 
out on  copper  by  John  Pine.  It  was  published  in 
1733-7. 

John  Sturt,  who  engraved  numbers  of  book  frontispieces, 
also  produced  a  Book  of  Common  Prayer,  engraved 
throughout  on  silver,  in  1717.  He  also  engraved  many  of 
John  Ayres'  calligraphic  works.  Abroad,  especially  in 
France  and  German}',  small  books  have  been  engraved,  in 
the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  bv  P.  Moreau, 


ILLUSTKATIONS.  119 

F.  Miizot,  J)niet,  and  others,  but  none  of  them  are  as 
important  as  the  En<^lish.  Music  books  are  engraved,  and 
so  are  numbers  of  calligraphic  books  of  small  interest. 

The  first  line  engravings  illustrating  any  book  appear  in 
Bettini's  "  Monte  Santo  di  Deo,"  printed  in  1477.  They 
are  said  to  be  after  designs  by  Botticelli.  Some  of 
the  prints  are  full  page  and  others  are  printed  on  the 
same  paper  as  the  text.  They  are  not  very  good.  Tlie 
same  kind  of  illustration  appears  in  Dante's  "  Divina 
Commedia,"  printed  in  1481.  Some  of  these  prints  are, 
however,  pasted  in,  but  a  few  are  on  the  same  paper  as 
the  text. 

The  great  excellence  of  Italian  book  illustrators  on  wood 
seems  to  have  eclipsed  all  other  kinds.  Italian  line 
engravers  have  excelled  in  large  plates,  but  in  books 
there  is  little  of  this  kind  of  work  that  is  at  all  good. 
Examples  of  small  work  of  the  kind  were  done  in  the 
eighteenth  century  by  Grandi,  Schedl,  Pomarade,  I.  Fre}^ 
and  C.  Gregori. 

In  English  books  line  engravings  do  not  appear  until 
1521,  when  an  edition  of  Galen  published  at  Cambridge 
possesses  an  engraved  border. 

Eaynald's  "  Byrthe  of  Mankind,"  published  in  1540,  has 
engraved  plates.  From  this  time  engravmgs  appear  at 
intervals  until  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
when  frontispieces  and  portraits,  always  printed  on  separate 
paper  and  inserted  as  extra  leaves,  became  common. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  same  style  prevailed,  en- 
graved portraits  an^l  frontispieces,  but  gradually  small  pic- 
tures came  into  use.  The  plates  are  often  signed,  and  we  Ihid 
the  name  of  Eenold  Elstrack,    who    worked  also  in  the 


iL")  Tiir;  I'.noK:  ris  iiis'i'(»i:v  .\\h  i)i:\i;i,()i'\ii:\r. 

precc^liiij^'  cfnilmy,  ^Mar.sliiill,  Ifdlc,  Cecil,  (iiovcr,  hikI  olliers 
of  less  niorit. 

J 11  till!  eighteenth  centiiiv  iiutivf  eiif^mvers  Keeiu  lo  huvc 
given  way  to  foreigners,  aiid  the  Kiinie  tiling  happened 
(hiring  the  early  nineteenth  ceiituiy.  We  iiiid  niany 
heautiful  engravings  in  English  hooks  signed  Ijy  J)u  Jiosc, 
Grignion,  Scotin,  ])e  Launay,  and  others.  Later,  in  the 
niiieleeiith  (•ciiliiry,  our  English  liiu;  engravers  rallied, 
and  we  owe  nnich  heautiful  work  to  them.  Many  of  their 
names  are  widely  known,  and  their  work  will  he  more 
highly  ai>preciated  as  time  goes  on,  especially  as  this  small 
line  engraving  is  practically  a  lost  art. 

Tlif  Keepsake,  puhlished  hy  Charles  Heath,  1827 — 57, 
started  the  fasliion  in  England  of  small  hooks  illustrated 
with  delicate  engravings  on  steel,  hut  it  must  he  noted 
that  although  there  is  engraved  work  in  tluiin,  the 
greater  jjart  of  the  work  is  really  etched.  Exquisite 
work  in  this  style  was  done  hy  W.  Einden,  D.  Allen, 
C.  Eolls,  T.  C.  Lewis,  J.  H.  Rohinson,  E.  Goodall, 
H.  and  E.  Wallis,  W.  R.  and  I).  Smith,  W.  Humphreys, 
John  Pye,  T.  S.  and  F.  C.  Engleheart,  F.  and  J.  Good- 
3^ear,  and  these  engravers  were  supplied  with  heautiful 
suhjects  hy  several  of  the  eminent  contemporary  artists, 
J.  M.  "\V.  Turner,  Stothard,  Samuel  Prout,  and  numbers 
more. 

Among  the  best  examples  of  tineh'  illustrated  l»ooks 
of  this  period  the  two  volumes  of  Rogers'  Itali/  and 
Poems  may  safely  be  noted.  They  were  published  in 
London  in  1830,  and  the  very  best  results  were  aimed  at  in 
their  production.  They  are  uniform,  and  usually  bound  in 
red  watered  silk. 


ILLUSTKATIOXS.  121 

Large  numbers  of  small  books  illustrateil  profusely  with 
line  engravinj^'s  were  published  about  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  They  often  have  engraved  title-pages, 
with  little  i^ictures  in  them,  the  full  page  illustration  being 
inserted  throughout.  The  names  of  both  artist  and  engraver 
are  usually  added  at  the  lower  edge  of  the  print. 

There  are  Oriental  Annuals,  Landscape  Annuals,  Xen- 
Year's  Gifts,  Frien(lslii]>'s  Oji'rrintis,  Cmnic  OferiiKjn,  Janitile 
Foniet-me-nots,  and  a  host  of  similar  periodicals,  and  good 
work  is  to  be  found  in  all  of  them.  They  were  either 
bound  in  thin  panel  stamped  leather  or  else  in  watered  silk, 
and  in  either  case  the  binding  is  of  interest,  and  wherever 
it  exists  it  should  be  carefully  preserved.  A  quaint  little 
woodcut  often  appears  in  these  books,  printed  with  the 
text. 

Besides  the  engravers  whose  names  I  have  already  men- 
tioned, there  are  many  others  whose  work  appears  more 
particularly  in  small  periodical  publications;  among  these 
may  be  noted  J.  C.  Aruiytage,  Geo.  Corbould,  Charles 
and  J.  Heath,  James  Mitan,  John  Sharpe,  R.  J.  Baker, 
W.  Greatbach,  J.  C.  Edwards,  W.  Fry,  W.  Chevalier, 
S.  Daven])ort,  H.  Eobins,  C.  Warren,  T.  J.  Williams,  J. 
Cousins,  W.  Miller,  8.  Sangstei-,  K.  Rhodes,  F.  Bacon,  B.  J. 
and  E.  Portbur\ ,  T.  Willmore,  R.  Brandard,  J.  H.  Kernot, 
W.  D.  Taylor,  and  G.  Mollis. 

After  about  1850  small  line  engravings  in  books  began  to 
disappear,  and  now  they  are  rarely  if  ever  done.  In  fact, 
line  engraving  has  been  killed  by  mezzotint  and  photo- 
graphy, and  now  takes  refuge  in  its  original  goldsmiths'  use, 
or  in  book  plates. 
Line    engraving    in  France    did  not  appeal    to  popular 


122    'I'll!-;    I'.OOK:    ITS    TTTSTOKY    AND    I)i:\  I  ;i><  U'M  IINT. 

taste  until  a  comparatively  late  period.  The  block  engravings 
in  the  "Horae''of  the  fifteenth  century,  although  they  were 
line  engravings,  were  cut  in  the  manner  of  wood  blocks,  and 
the  method  of  printing  from  them  was  different  to  that  used 
in  the  case  of  ordinary  metal  engravings.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century  there  were  several  beautiful  books  illustrated 
by  line  engravings  by  Sebastian  Leclerc,  L.  Gaultier, 
J.  Saun6,  F.  Chauveau,  Le  Mire  and  H.  J.  Diiclos. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  in  France  the  graceful  designs 
of  Ch.  Eisen  and  J.  H.  Fragonard  found  many  worthy  inter- 
preters. La  Fontaine's  fables  and  stories  provided  a  suitable 
literature  for  these  illustrations,  and  among  them  may 
perhaps  be  found  the  high  water  mark  of  small  line 
engraving.  Indeed,  the  work  is  all  so  good  that  any  choice 
becomes  almost  invidious;  but  quite  beautiful  work  was 
done  by  J.  B.  Patas,  Chofifard,  N.  Le  Mire,  De  Longueil, 
L.  Bosse,  Delvaux,  Johannot,  Leroux,  Lefebre,  Ficquet, 
Mottet,  Prevost,  J.  B.  Tillard,  J.  L.  Delignon,  C.  L.  Lingee, 
Dupreel;  and  then  come  L.  Halbon,  J.  Aliamet,  J.  Dambrun, 
J.  B.  Simonnet,  P.  Triere,  C.  S.  Gaucher,  and  many  more, 
some  of  whom  worked  also  in  the  next  century. 

In  the  nineteenth  century  the  French  level  of  small  en- 
graved illustrations  remained  exceptionally  high,  especially 
in  the  earlier  half,  but  many  of  the  plates  have  much  etching 
mixed  up  with  line  work  ;  this  may  very  likely  mean  that  the 
work  was  done  on  steel,  which  will  admit  of  the  production 
of  large  editions  ;  but  steel  is  very  difiScult  to  engrave, 
although  it  is  quite  easy  to  etch.  Among  the  line  engravers 
who  used  accessory  etching  I  have  noted  Pauquet,  Aze, 
P.  Choffard,  and  De  Yilliers. 

The  engravers  whose  work  mav  be  safelv  considered  of 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  123 

high  qiialiW  are  R.  De  Launay,  Bertonnier,  Yillerey, 
P.  Savart,  H.  Dupont,  Girardet,  J.  P.  Marillien,  L.  Petit, 
J.  F.  Piibault,  ChilHart,  and  V.  Foulquier.  To^yards  the 
end  of  the  century  photography  came  and  gradually  crowded 
out  the  small  line  engravers. 

/  An  etching  is  a  drawing  done  with  a  needle  point  upon 
a  sheet  of  metal  protected  by  a  thin  impervious  coat  of 
soft  varnish.  The  lines  made  by  the  etching  needle  pierce 
the  varnish  or  "  ground,"  and  reach  down  to  the  metal, 
usually  copper,  exposing  it  in  those  places.  When  the 
drawing  is  complete  the  plate  is  put  into  a  bath  of  strong 
water,  usually  dilute  nitric  acid,  and  wherever  the  surface 
is  not  protected  by  the  ground  the  acid  will  eat  away  the 
metal. 

When  now  the  ground  is  cleaned  oil'  with  the  help  of 
turpentine,  the  original  design  will  be  seen  transferred  to 
the  surface  of  the  copper  in  the  form  of  dull  lines,  shallow 
if  the  acid  has  only  been  allowed  to  act  for  a  short  time, 
but  broad,  deep  ai:^i  irregular  if  the  "  biting  "  has  been 
long.  So  that  an  etching  alwaj^s  has  a  little  more  "  effect" 
than  was  put  into  the  original  work. 

It  is  not  necessary  here  to  enter  into  the  mysteries  of 
"  stopping  out,"  and  several  other  variations  of  procedure, 
but  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  variations  of  tone  and  texture 
can  be  obtained ;  but,  in  fact,  so  far  as  book  illustrations  go, 
the  etchings  I  know  of  are  always  simple,  and  the  best  of 
them  are  those  l)y  George  Cruickshank. 
//The  printing  of  etchings  is  analogous  to  that  of  line 
engravings,  and  a  similar  ink  is  used.  A  strong  press  is 
required,  the  paper  is  damped,  and  the  impression  is  in 
slight  relief.     Line  engravings  are  always  printed  in  the 


121   Till':  I '.()() K' :  rrs  history  and  l)l;\■|;T/)T»^rI•:\T. 

saiiK!  way  as  a  visiting  card,  llui  untouched  parts  are  clean, 
and  print  white,  hut  in  tlio  case  of  etchinj^s  more  ink  is 
usually  left,  so  that  the  untouched  surfaces  often  show  grey, 
none  of  the  ink  having  l)een  allowed  to  remain  upon  the 
plate.  Tlie  French  call  this  "  retroussage,"  and  printers 
can  produce  strange  effects  l)y  its  use.  A  had  etching  can 
be  made  to  look  like  a  good  one ;  a  good  etching  can  be 
made  to  look  weak  and  wretched.  In  fact,  a  clever  artist 
printer  can  produce  a  capital  picture  from  a  plate  which 
has  nothing  at  all  on  it  but  the  ink. 

Etchings  first  appeared  in  English  hooks  about  the  end 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  they  are  seldom  signed, 
neither  are  they  good.  There  is  an  etched  frontispiece  to 
Latroo's  "  Englisli  Koque,"  IGC)"),  and  another  to  "  /Esop's 
Fables,"  published  in  the  same  year. 

Wenceslaus  Hollar,  a  Bohemian  who  worked  in  London, 
illustrated  a  few  English  books  with  etchings  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  Soft  ground  etchings  printed  in  red  and 
black  appear  in  Pennant's  "  Account  of  London,"  printed 
in  1795.  In  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  centuries 
William  Blake  made  a  few  etchings  for  book  illustrations. 
In  the  nineteenth  century  came  Aiken's  etchings  of  animals, 
usually  coloured,  Samuel  Hewitt,  Doyle,  and  especially  the 
excellent  work  of  George  Cruickshank,  which  was  very 
much  admired  by  John  Euskin. 

Combined  with  line  engraving  a  number  of  small  illustra- 
tions were  published  in  the  nineteenth  century.  They  were 
etched  on  steel,  and  carefully  finished  with  small  line  work, 
with  ruled  skies.  They  are  generally  classed  as  engravings, 
but  should,  I  think,  rather  be  called  etchings. 

Etching  has  not  played  a  very  important  part  in  French 


^' 


6 


v) 


troin  Oral    TniHir if,,,     ', 


S  f'^t^tAfUC.    4." 


itle- 


hi/>rt.\/i,;r  hy  C.Bahfwyn  .  \i\Y,/,i!r  .Unvf. 
Ji(^>'DO.V, 

of  Grimm's  "  German  Popular  Stories."     {Londot,,  1824.) 
Illustrated  with  etchings  by  George  Cruickshank. 


[To  face  p.  124. 


i 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  125 

books  any  more  than  it  has  in  English.  There  are  the 
amusing  sketches  of  Callot,  good  work  by  Abraham  Bosse 
and  Sebastian  Leclerc,  and  in  quite  recent  times  the 
beautiful  etchings  by  Jules  Jacquemart  of  works  of  art,  in 
their  way  unsurpassed,  and  marvels  of  technical  skill.  I 
have  already  mentioned  a  few  French  etchers  who  com- 
bined that  work  with  small  line  engraving,  probably  on 
steel ;  of  these  probably  Choffard  is  best  known  and  most 
highly  appreciated. 

Engraving  by  dots  has  been  for  a  long  time  practised,  as 
by  its  means  a  graduated  tone  can  be  more  easily  obtained 
than  it  can  by  the  use  of  line  alone,  and  stipple  is  the  same 
idea  carried  out  by  the  etching  needle  instead  of  the  graver. 

Stipple  is  done  by  means  of  small  bunches  of  needles, 
with  which  irregular  dots  are  made  in  the  etching  ground 
and  then  bitten  by  acid,  as  usual.  In  most  cases  a  few 
small  finishing  dots  are  put  on  the  copper  by  hand  after- 
wards. Stipple  is  excellent  for  faces,  and  is  best  known  in 
the  work  of  Bartolozzi,  who  excelled  in  it.  It  is  said  to 
have  been  invented  by  Jacob  Bylaert,  a  Dutchman,  in 
1760. 

In  England  stipple  engraving  was  largely  used  in  the 
early  nineteenth  century  for  book  illustrations.  It  is  found 
chiefly  in  faces,  and  is  generally  supported  by  line  engrav- 
ing or  etching.  The  best  stipple  engravers  did  nut  illus- 
trate books,  but  the  work  of  W.  Finden,  C.  Knight, 
J.  Parker,  C.  Marr,  and  W.  Holl  is  always  good,  though,  of 
course,  very  small.  Besides  these  there  were  numbers  of 
lesser  stipple  engravers,  whose  work  is  fair — Jenkinson, 
Dean,  H.  Cook,  C.  Wagstaffe,  H.  Piobinson,  and  many  more. 

The  same  sort  of  usefulness  was  found  for  stipple  abroad. 


12G    'J'HE    15<)()K:    Tl'S    HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

for  faces  particularly,  iuicl  it  was  successfully  practised  by 
Pfeiffer,  Vangelisty,  and  others,  but  it  never  took  the  same 
hold  upon  the  Continent  that  it  did  here,  either  in  the  case 
of  small  book  illustrations  or  in  the  more  important  matter 
of  large  stipple  engravings. 

Mezzotints  are  not  satisfactory  if  they  are  on  a  small 
scale.  Delicate  and  minute  work  cannot  be  done  well  by 
the  mezzotint  process  alone,  but  require  supijlementary 
line  or  etched  work.  So  we  find  that  mezzotints  have  not 
been  mucli  used  for  book  illustration. 

The  process  of  mezzotinting  was  invented  by  Ludwig  von 
Siegen,  an  ofTficer  in  the  Hessian  Army,  about  1642,  and  at 
first  it  was  practised  chiefly  by  foreigners,  but  it  soon 
became  the  favourite  method  of  engraving  upon  metal  in 
England ;  indeed,  the  competition  of  the  mezzotint 
eventually  ruined  the  slower  and  more  costly  process  of 
line  engraving. 

Some  books  concerning  mezzotints  have  explanatory 
plates  in  them,  beginning  with  Le  Blon's  "  Coloritto," 
written  about  1721,  but  these  can  hardly  be  considered 
as  fair  instances  of  ordinary  book  illustrations. 

A  copper  plate  is  prepared  for  mezzotint  engraving  by 
being  uniformly  roughened  all  over,  so  that  if  it  were 
inked  and  a  print  made  from  it,  the  print  would  show  a 
uniform  velvety  black.  The  art  of  the  "  scraper  "  consists 
in  so  skilfully  cutting  away  or  burnishing  down  the 
roughened  surface  of  the  copper  that  when  a  print  is  made 
a  picture  appears.  The  scraper  works  from  black  to  white 
whenever  the  surface  is  scraped  or  burnished  awa}',  so  in 
exact  correspondence  the  print  will  show  grey  or  white.  It 
is  quick  work,  and  eas}-  work  up  to  a  point,  but  to  make  a 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  127 

first-rate  mezzotint  is  a  great  art,  and  only  a  fe^v  engravers 
have  succeeded  in  doing  it. 

Among  the  first  students  of  the  art  was  Prince  Rupert, 
who  was  an  excellent  artist  and  an  accomplished  workman 
all  round.  He  engraved  a  large  plate  after  Spagnoletto, 
called  "  The  Great  Executioner,"  and  when  John  Evelyn 
wrote  a  little  book  called  "  Sculptura,"  which  was  published 
in  1602,  and  included  in  it  a  short  description  of  tlie  new 
art,  the  Prince  mezzotinted  a  plate  for  him,  showing  only 
the  head  of  the  great  executioner.  This  head,  the  first 
mezzotint  done  for  a  book,  is  a  finer  piece  of  work  than  the 
head  in  the  larger  plate. 

There  were  several  anatomical  pUites,  mostly  printed  in 
coloured  inks,  which  were  mezzotinted  about  the  same  time, 
but  they  are  not  important ;  then  Faber's  portraits  of 
founders  of  the  Colleges  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were 
used  as  illustrations  to  Rolfs  "  Lives  of  the  Reformers," 
published  in  1759.  These  plates  bear  Houston's  name  as 
mezzotinter,  but  this  is  only  one  of  a  immber  of  such 
re-letterings  which  occur  in  the  history  of  mezzotints. 

Robert  Dunkarton  engraved  several  book  illustrations, 
mostly  portraits,  and  he  also  helped  in  the  mezzotinting  of 
some  of  the  plates  in  Turner's  "  Liber  Studiorum."  He 
was  a  portrait  painter,  and  his  mezzotints  are  better  than 
Faber's.  John  Young  was  an  eminent  mezzotinter,  and  in 
1815  he  issued  a  large  book  of  portraits  of  the  Emperors  of 
Turkey  printed  in  colours.  They  are  not  particularly  good, 
but  are  interesting  as  being  the  first  set  of  mezzotints  to  be 
issued  in  colour  as  book  illustrations.  The  book  is  rare 
and,  if  the  colour  is  strong,  of  considerable  value. 

Turner's  "Liber  Studiorum"   was  issued  l)etween  1807 


12S    THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

and  1811),  and  many  niezzotinters  helped  in  the  work — 
F.  C.  Lewis,  Charles  Turner,  W.  Say,  R,  Dunkarton,  G. 
Clint,  J.  C.  Eastling,  T.  Hodgetts,  W.  Ann  is,  II.  Dawe, 
T.  Lipton,  and  S.  W.  Reynolds.  The  plates  were  not  pure 
mezzotint,  but  were  strongly  etched  as  well  wiLli  some 
aquatinting ;  the  first  etching  was  done  by  J.  M.  W. 
Turner,  and  some  of  the  mezzotinting.  I  think  he  prob- 
ably worked  finally  upon  all  the  plates  in  various  ways 
with  burin,  scraper  and  roulette. 

Several  books  of  landscaj^es  are  illustrated  with  mezzo- 
tints, done  on  copper  or  steel,  by  T.  G.  Lupton,  many  of 
them  after  Turner,  and  John  Constable's  landscapes  liave 
been  admirably  mezzotinted  by  David  Lucas ;  perliaps  the 
best  known  is  "English  Landscape  Scenery,"  published 
in  1855. 

In  all  mezzotints,  large  or  small,  it  should  be  noted  that 
the  conditioji  of  the  print  is  important.  The  blacks  should 
be  deep  and  velvety ;  if  they  show  greyish  or  spotted,  the 
print  is  from  an  old  plate.  Mezzotints  on  steel  last  better 
than  if  they  are  on  copper.  I  know  of  no  foreign  books 
illustrated  with  mezzotints. 

There  are  several  ways  of  making  aquatints,  but  the 
best  is  the  oldest.  It  was  invented  by  a  Frenchman, 
J.  B.  Le  Prince,  towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  although  of  foreign  origin,  the  art  has  been  most 
extensively  and  successfully  practised  in  England. 

Le  Prince  allowed  powdered  resin  to  settle  evenly  on  a 
copper  plate,  fixed  the  minute  grains  by  heat,  and  then  treated 
the  plate  with  acid  as  if  it  were  an  etching.  When  the 
plate  was  cleaned  the  acid  is  found  to  have  bitten  a  little 
line  round  each  grain  of  resin,  so  that  an  aquatint  made  by 


ILLUSTRA.TIONS.  129 

this  method  consists  of  a  series  of  small  rings  more  or  less 
thick.  The  different  thicknesses  are  produced  by  stopping 
out  some  portions  and  re-biting  others.  The  general  effect 
of  aquatint  is  delicate  and  pleasing,  and  it  can  be 
strengthened  where  necessary  with  a  little  etching. 
Aquatint  helps  its  followers  considerably,  and  a  good 
aquatint  made  from  a  drawing  or  painting  will  often  have 
luminous  effects  that  are  wanting  in  the  original. 

There  is  one  other  method  of  aquatinting  that  must  be 
mentioned,  but  there  are  more  which  are  too  numerous  and 
too  unimportant  to  require  explanation  here.  It  is  a  modern 
invention,  and  consists  of  coating  tlie  plate  with  resin  dis- 
solved in  alcohol ;  when  this  dries  it  breaks  up  into  little 
pieces,  and  the  acid  can  penetrate  between  these  pieces  as  in 
Le  Prince's  method.  But  the  resulting  prints  do  not  show 
Le  Prince's  little  circles,  but  small  irregular  polygons. 

Le  Prince  sold  his  secret  to  Charles  Greville,  and  he 
passed  it  on  to  Paul  Sandby,  who  not  only  became  an 
eminent  aquatinter  but  published  a  book  in  1775  called 
Twelve  Views  in  Aquatinta.  This  drew  much  atten- 
tion to  the  beautiful  new  art,  and  it  rapidly  became  very 
popular  in  England.  English  aquatinter s,  like  English 
wood  and  stipple  engravers,  always  liked  colour,  whether 
added  by  hand  or  printed  in  ink,  and  so  we  find  that  the 
large  majority  of  English  aquatinters  enjoy  the  added 
beauty  of  colour. 

The  pubhshers  Ackermann  and  Boydell  both  deserve 
much  honour  for  their  consistent  patronage  of  aquatints, 
and  no  doubt  our  splendid  record  in  that  art  is  largely  due 
to  their  enterprise. 

Towards  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  we 

T.B.  K 


130  THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

already  find  several  fine  books  with  hand-coloured  aqua- 
tint illustrations  published  in  England,  among  these  are 
W.  Hodge's  Select  Vieivs  in  India,  1786 ;  T.  Hassell's 
Picturesque  Guide  to  Bath,  1793 ;  Combes'  History  of 
the  River  Thames,  with  aquatints  by  J.  C.  Stadler ;  E. 
Orme's  Ttvelve  Vieivs  of  Places  in  the  Kingdom  of  Mysore, 
with  aquatints  by  J.  W.  Edy ;  and  H.  Eepton's  amusing 
Sketches  of  LandscaiJc  Gardening,  with  moveable  plates  to 
show  how  good  his  suggested  improvements  were,  all  pub- 
lished in  1794,  and  from  this  time  for  the  next  thirty  years 
were  numbers  of  books  issued  with  coloured  aquatints  con- 
cerning domestic  architecture. 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  there  are  still  numbers 
of  books  with  aquatint  views  in  them  :  J.  Webber's  Views 
ill  the  South  Seas,  published  in  1808,  and  Boydell's 
Picturesque  Scenery  of  Norway,  with  aquatints  by  J.  W. 
Edy,  in  1820,  and  several  more. 

Then  Rowlandson,  the  caricaturist,  aquatinted  the  illustra- 
tions for  Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield  in  1817,  and  the 
inimitable  Tour  of  Dr.  Syntax,  by  Combe,  in  1820,  thereby 
setting  the  fashion  for  caricature  in  aquatint,  which  had  a 
considerable  vogue. 

In  Pyne's  History  oj  the  Royal  Residences,  the  out-door 
views  are  printed  in  coloured  inks,  blue  for  the  skies  and 
brown  for  the  foregrounds.  They  have  additional  hand- 
colouring.  It  is  an  important  book,  and  was  published  in 
1819 ;  the  aquatints  are  engraved  by  T.  Sutherland,  W.  F. 
Bennett,  E.  Eeeve,  and  others. 

Then  came  a  series  of  fine  books  on  Indian  scenery, 
mostly  engraved  by  T.  IMedland,  Hassell  and  Ellis, 
and  many  books  of  English   views,  mostly  engraved    by 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  131 

D.  Havell,    T.    Sutherland,    T.    H.  Fielding,    J.  Baily,  or 
T.  Cartwright. 

Of  less  importance,  but  now  becoming  more  esteemed, 
are  the  numbers  of  graceful  costume  and  fashion  plates 
which  were  done  in  aquatint  and  coloured  b}^  hand  from 
about  1790  to  1840.  These  books  are  already  much  sought 
after,  and  will  probably  be  more  and  more  so  in  time ;  the 
plates  are  generally  anonymous. 

William  Daniell  illustrated  Ayrton's  Voyage  Round  Great 
Britain  with  beautiful  coloured  aquatints  ;  it  was  published 
in  1825. 

There  are  many  cases  in  which  several  kinds  of  work 
apj)ear  on  the  same  plate ;  there  may  be  aquatint  and 
etching,  mezzotint  with  etching,  engraving  or  aquatint,  so 
it  is  very  important  to  be  able  to  judge  from  the  aspect  of 
a  line  or  dot  or  a  point  by  which  method  it  has  been 
produced. 

The  magnificent  account  of  the  Coronation,  of  George  IV., 
published  in  18'25,  under  the  care  of  Sir  George  Nayler, 
Garter  King  of  Arms,  is  illustrated  with  mixed  engravings, 
stipple,  etching,  line,  aquatint  and  mezzotint,  by  S.  W. 
Keynolds  and  other  engravers,  chiefly  after  designs  by 
F.  and  J.  Stephanoff.  The  plates  are  coloured  by  hand, 
and  several  of  the  special  copies  have  much  extra  artistic 
work  added.  It  is  said  to  be  the  most  expensive  book  ever 
published,  and  it  never  repaid  its  cost,  but  received  a  grant 
in  aid  from  the  Government  of  the  day.  The  majority 
of  the  figures  are  careful  portraits,  and  it  is  the  highest 
authority  for  the  State  costume  of  the  time. 

Lithography  is  the  art  of  drawing  upon  stone  in  such  a 
way  that  prints  can  be  made   from    the    drawing.      The 

K  2 


132   THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

drawing  has  to  be  done  upon  a  particular  sort  of  stone 
either  directly  or  by  means  of  transfer  from  lithographic 
paper,  and  it  can  be  done  either  with  a  point  of  solid  litho- 
graphic ink  resembling  black  chalk,  or  by  a  liquid  ink,  in 
which  case  the  drawing  is  called  a  lithotint.  J.  M. 
Whistler  was  remarkably  successful  in  this  latter  manner, 
but  it  had  been  used  long  before  by  Hullmandel  and 
Cattermole. 

The  discovery  of  lithography  was  due  to  the  experiments  of 
Aloys  Senefelder,  a  native  of  Prague,  who  was  born  late  in 
the  eighteenth  century.  He  accidentally  found  that  some 
writing  he  bad  put  on  one  of  the  stones  he  used  for  sharpen- 
ing his  tools  upon  came  off  easily  on  to  paper  or  linen. 
Then  he  tried  what  effect  acid  would  have,  and  found  that 
it  would  eat  away  the  stone  wherever  the  ink  did  not  pre- 
vent it,  so  he  got  a  block  in  low  reHef.  The  protective  ink 
is  made  essentially  of  wax,  tallow,  soap,  shellac,  and  lamj) 
black,  and  the  acid  renders  this  insoluble,  so  that  when 
acid  is  applied  to  the  stone  the  parts  drawn  upon  remain 
unaffected.  The  drawing  ink  is  now  removed,  and  when 
printing  ink  is  applied  by  means  of  a  roller,  it  sticks  only 
where  the  drawn  lines  are,  and  from  this  inked  stone  a 
print  can  be  obtained. 

The  surface  of  a  lithograph  is  quite  smooth,  and  the 
process  will  not  help  an  artist  in  the  least — as  the  drawing 
is  so  will  the  lithograph  from  it  be  ;  the  only  difference  is  in 
the  power  of  reproduction. 

Senefelder  was  unfortunate  ;  he  introduced  an  art  to  the 
world  which  has  been  very  largely  followed,  but  his  own 
efforts  were  failures  from  a  business  point  of  view.  He 
came  to  London  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  and  his 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  133 

methods  soon  found  votaries,  but  he  shortly  returned  to 
Munich,  where  his  brother  had  assisted  him  in  setting  up  a 
Uthographic  estabhshment,  and  this  j^ractically  faiUng,  it 
was  taken  over  by  the  Bavarian  Government  and  put 
under  the  management  of  H.  J.  Mitterer,  a  professor  of 
drawing. 

But  it  was  in  France  that  lithography  made  most  rapid 
progress.  The  clever  French  draughtsmen  that  happened  to 
exist  about  that  time  very  quickly  mastered  the  process, 
and  between  them  they  established  a  school  of  lithography 
that  is  unequalled.  Many  of  the  greatest  French  artists 
worked  in  it,  and  some  of  them  specialised  in  it. 

Lasteyrie  introduced  it,  and  it  w'as  quickly  taken  up  by 
Horace  Yernet,  Pierre  Guerin,  Charlet,  and  manv  others 
for  small  book  illustrations,  and  about  1830  there  are  large 
numbers  of  caricatures  done  in  this  quick  and  easy  way. 
Then  Gericault,  Henri  Monnier,  Eugene  Delacroix,  and 
J.  B.  Isabey  swelled  the  list  of  French  lithographers,  most  of 
the  book  illustrations  being  of  small  size ;  and  a  little  later 
there  is  notable  work  done  by  Honore  Daumier,  Achille 
Deveria,  Eaffet,  Jean  Gigoux  and  Gavarni,  several  of  them 
specialising  in  military  subjects.  Towards  the  end  of  the 
century  we  find  a  new  set  of  artists,  many  of  whom  use 
colour  as  w^ell  as  monotint,  Fautin-Latour,  Cheret,  0. 
Redon,  Gandara  and  Willett. 

The  social  side  of  French  life  is  perhaps  the  most 
illustrated  in  lithography. 

In  England  lithography  received  its  first  impetus  from 
Senefelder  himself,  who  came  and  worked  in  London, 
where  in  1819  his  Complete  Course  of  Lithography  was 
published. 


VM    THE   HOOK:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

C.  J.  Hullmandel  and  J.  I).  Harding  were  friends  and 
co-workers  in  the  new  art,  and  they  were  both  adepts  at  it ; 
Hunmandel  drew  several  of  the  beautiful  plates  of  birds  for 
John  Gould,  and  they  were  afterwards  coloured  by  hand. 
From  the  beginning  colour  has  been  much  liked  by  English 
lithographers,  either  added  by  hand  or  produced  by  means 
of  "  chromo-lithography,"  that  is,  several  plates  inked  in 
different  colours  and  then  printed  over  each  other  on  one 
piece  of  paper. 

Eoberts'  Holy  Land  is  magnificently  illustrated  with 
lithographic  plates  by  Louis  Haghe,  a  left-handed  Belgian, 
who  worked  here,  and  these  plates  were  afterwards  coloured 
by  hand.  Clarkson  Stanfield  and  Cattermole  both  worked 
in  lithography,  and  Nash's  Mansions  of  England  in  the  Olden 
Time,  1839-49,  are  familiar  to  most  of  us.  Nash  coloured 
several  copies  by  hand. 

Owen  Jones'  Plans  of  the  Alhamhra,  published  1842-5, 
are  excellent  chromo-lithographs.  In  quite  modern  times 
the  old  tradition  is  worthily  upheld  by  William  Griggs, 
whose  colour  plates  of  Illuminated  MSS.  in  the  British 
Museum  are  in  every  way  excellent — indeed,  for  truth  and 
fidelity  to  their  originals  the}^  have  never  been  equalled. 

Munich  was  a  sort  of  headquarters  of  lithography  in  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century,  when  H.  J.  Mitterer 
succeeded  to  Senefelder's  establishment  there.  Among 
the  first  lithographers  in  Germany  were  J.  M.  Mittenleiter, 
who  also  invented  the  art  of  engraving  on  stone,  and 
Joseph  Hauber. 

Most  of  the  German  lithographers  contented  themselves 
with  making  copies  of  existing  pictures,  and  one  of  the 
finest  examples  of  this  kind  of  lithography  is  to  be  found 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  135 

in  the  Gcmdlde  Galerie  des  K.  Museums  in  Berlin,  pub- 
lished in  1842,  and  containing  excellent  work  by  Fr.  Jentzen, 
C.  Fischer,  and  others. 

Adolf  Menzel  did  some  notable  lithographic  work  about 
the  middle  of  the  century,  and  Mouilleron,  Eybl,  and  Eitter 
were  all  excellent  workmen. 

Belgian  lithographers  have  nearly  always  been  very  good ; 
besides  Haghe,  who  worked  in  England,  there  were,  with 
others,  Tuerlinckoe,  Van  der  Meulen,  and  Yan  Loo. 

Although  there  have  been  lithographic  workshops  set  up 
at  Rome,  Florence,  Turin,  Milan,  and  other  towns,  the  art 
has  never  flourished  much  in  Italy :  it  never  appealed  to 
the  sensitive  artistic  Italian  nature.  Such  examples  as  do 
exist  are  mostl}^  portraits. 

Lithography  has  been  popular  in  Spain,  and  Spanish 
artists  have  done  excellent  work  in  this  manner. 

In  1824  J.  de  Madrazo  published  the  most  important 
Spanish  work  illustrated  with  photographs  ;  it  is  called  Collec- 
tion lithographica  de  euadros  del  Rey  .  .  .  Fernando  VII,, 
lithographiada  por  habiles  artistas,  among  whom  are  named 
J.  Jollivet,  P.  Blanchard  and  A.  Guerrero.  The  work  of  all 
of  these  is  excellent.  Lithographic  work  in  Spain,  so  far  as 
books  are  concerned,  has  been  mostly  of  an  archaeological 
character — views  of  old  buildings  or  old  pictures  particularly. 
F.  Goya,  however,  worked  largely  in  this  manner. 

All  these  methods  of  illustrating  books  worked  by  hand 
have  now  been  superseded  by  one  or  other  of  the  wonderful 
processes  made  possible  by  the  invention  of  photography. 
Some  of  these  are  expensive,  but  generally  they  are  cheap. 

The  most  elaborate,  and  when  well  done  the  most  won- 
derful, of  these  processes  is  that  known  as  heliogravure.    By 


i;j(;    THE   BOOK:   ITS    HISTORY   AND   DHVKLOPMRNT. 

means  of  this  method  reproductions  of  line  engravings  can 
be  made  so  perfectly  that  detection  is  almost  impossible.  A 
metal  plate  is  so  treated  by  help  of  a  photographic  negative 
that  tlie  lines  of  the  engraving  are  deposited  in  an  insoluble 
form  upon  the  plate,  which  is  otherwise  clean,  then  a  thin 
film  of  metal  is  deposited  on  all  the  clean  places  by  means 
of  electrotyping,  so  that  when  the  lines  are  dissolved  out, 
they  are  in  intaglio,  just  as  they  were  in  the  original 
engraved  plate.  From  this  artificial  plate  prints  can  be 
made  as  if  from  an  engraved  plate. 

For  the  mezzotint  another  method  is  adopted,  known  as 
photogravure,  and  this  is  also  a  wonderful  invention.  A 
metal  plate  is  slightly  roughed — if  it  could  be  more  roughed 
it  would  be  better — and  then  a  photographic  relief  in  gelatine 
is  put  upon  it  and  etched.  The  result  is  a  plate  resembling 
a  fine  grain  mezzotint,  but  the  prints  made  from  it  are 
always  deficient  in  the  blacks.  To  remedy  this  and  other 
defects  which  at  present  seem  to  be  inherent,  an  engraver 
generally  goes  over  the  plate  with  roulette  and  burnisher. 
The  Photogravure  has  ruined  the  Mezzotint.  The  coating 
of  the  copper-plates  with  steel  largely  adds  to  their  life. 

Then  we  come  to  the  wood  engravings,  which  are  all 
perfectly  imitated  by  the  zinc  block,  made  directly  from  the 
original  drawing,  and  set  on  a  wood  block  so  as  to  range 
exactly  with  type  in  height.  "Wash  drawings  are  closely 
copied  by  the  half-tone  process,  which  is  also  used  with 
blocks  that  can  be  printed  with  type.  The  drawing  to  be 
copied  is  photographed  through  a  glass  screen  very  finely 
etched  with  minute  lines  crossing  each  other,  so  that  the  pic- 
ture is  ultimately  represented  by  a  series  of  little  squares, 
black  or  white  according  to  the  tones  of  the  original.    But  the 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  137 

whites  are  never  quite  satisfactory,  the  dots  of  the  screen 
always  show  a  httle,  so  the  dispossessed  wood  engraver  has 
to  he  called  in  after  all  to  touch  them  up  with  a  graver.  In 
America,  where  the  half-tone  process  has  reached  a  very 
high  degree  of  excellence,  the  names  of  these  helpful 
engravers  are  frequently  added.  A  curious  "shot-silk" 
effect  is  often  seen  in  half-tone  illustrations  where  the  lines 
of  the  screen  fall  at  a  particular  angle  with  the  lines  on  the 
original.  The  same  peculiarity  sometimes  shows  in  the 
ruled  sky  lines  in  the  small  nineteenth  century  line 
engravings. 

The  three-colour  process  consists  of  half-tone  blocks 
printed  in  colours  one  over  the  other,  but  although  they 
look  well  they  are  not  particularly  true  to  their  originals. 
The  reason  of  this  is  that  each  block  is  a  little  wrongly  inked, 
as  the  tint  of  the  pigment  put  upon  it  depends  entirely  upon 
the  printer.  He  has  of  course  a  carefully  coloured  key  given 
him  to  match  for  each  block,  but  he  never  quite  succeeds  in 
doing  more  than  get  near  it.  There  are  line  keys  and  colour 
blocks,  and  half-tone  and  colour  blocks,  and  many  other 
varieties  of  combinations  of  processes. 

The  half-tone  process  is  certainly  responsible  for  much 
charming  and  valuable  work,  but  it  has  done  one  very 
great  harm  not  only  to  itself  but  even  to  literature,  it  has 
been  the  chief  cause  of  the  introduction  of  clay-laden  paper 
(see  Chap.  III.). 

The  beauty  of  photographic  illustrations  can  be  best 
seen  in  some  of  the  recent  French  illustrated  books  in 
colour  published  by  the  Societe  des  Amis  des  Livres. 
Other  exquisite  illustrations  are  to  be  found  in  Octave 
Uzanne's  books,  many  of  them  from  the  drawings  of  Paul 


i;3S    THE   BOOK:    ITS   TITSTORY  AND   DEVP]LOPMENT. 

Avril.  The  Wiiy  in  which  many  of  the.se  iUustratioiis  are 
made  to  show  over  the  printed  page  is  often  quite 
charming. 

BOOKS  TO   CONSULT. 

Baer,  Ij. — L)ie  lUustrirten  Ilistoiienbucher  des  l.J  Juhihunderts. 
Strassburfj,  1903. 

Bayard,  E.— Illustrations  et  les  lUustrateurs.     Paris,  1898. 

Blackburn,  H.— The  Art  of  Illustration.     London,  1896 — 1901. 

Bonnet,  G. — Manuel  do  Phototypie.     Paris,  1889. 

Bonnet,  G. — Manuel  d'llcliogravure  et  de  Photogravure  en  relief. 
Paris,  1890. 

BoucHOT,  H. — Le  Livre,  L'lUustration.     Faris,  1886. 

BouCHOT,  H.  —Les  Livres  a  vignettes.     Paris. 

Brivois,  J. — Bibliographie  des  livres  a  gravures  sur  bois  du  XIX" 
siecle.     Paris,  1883. 

BR0t:Gn,  W.  S.— Book  Illustration.     Leek,  1891. 

Bullock,  J.  M.— Art  of  Extra  Illustration.     1903. 

Crane,  W. — Of  the  Decorative  Illustration  of  Books.  Loudon, 
1901. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Mezzotints.     London,  1904. 

DoBSON,  A. — (Chapter  on  Illustrated  Books  in  Lang's  "The 
Library.")     London,  1881. 

DoBSON,  H.  A. — Bewick  and  his  Pupils.     London,  1884. 

DucHOCHOis,  P.  C. — Photographic  Reproduction  Processes.  London, 
1892. 

Farquhak,  H.  D. — Grammar  of  Photo-engraving.     London,  1895. 

Gerring,  C.     Notes  on  Book  Illustration.     Nottingham,  1898. 

Geymet,  T. — Traite  de  Gravui-e  en  demi-teint  i^ar  I'invention  du 
cliche  photographique.     Paris,  1888 

Geymet,  T. — Traite  de  Gravui-e  et  impression  sur  zinc.    Paris,  1887. 

Geymet,  T. — Traite  de  Photogravure.     Paris,  1886. 

Geymet,  T. — Traite  de  Photo-lithographie.     Paris,  1888. 

Gkolier  Club,  New  York. — Catalogue  of  Engraved  Titles  and 
Frontisj)ieces  published  in  England  during  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centui-ies.     New  York,  1898. 

Hardie,  M.— English  Coloured  Books.     London,  1906. 

Henrich,  M. — Iconographie  de  las  ediciones  del  Quijote  de  M.  de 
Cervantes  Saavedra.     Barcelona,  1905. 


ILLUSTRATIONS.  139 

HiNTON,  A.  H. — Handbook  of  Illustratioii.     London,  1N95 — 1905. 

HODSON,  J.  S. — Guide  to  Art  Illustration.     London,  1884. 

HUSON,  T. — Photo- Aquatint.      London,  189". 

Jackson,  J.  B. — An  essay  on  engraving  in  Chiaro  Oscuro.  London, 
1754. 

KlEKBRIDGE,  J. — Engraving  for  Illustrations.     London,  19().3. 

Keisteller,  p. — Earlj'  Florentine  Woodcuts.     London,  1897. 

Kristeller,  p. — Die  Strassburgher  Bucher-illustration  im  XV.  und 
XVI.  Jahrbunderts.     Leipzuj,  1888. 

Lietze,  E. — Modern  Heliographic  Processes.     New  York,  1888. 

Linton,  W.  J.— The  Masters  of  Wood  Engraving.  New  Haven, 
Conn.,  1889. 

Linton,  W.  J. — Wood  Engraving  in  America.     London,  1881. 

Madrazo,  J.  DE. — Collection  lithografica  cuadros  del  Eey  .  .  . 
Fernando  VII.     1824. 

Martineau,  R.—The  Mainz  Psalter  of  1457  (Bibliographica,  Vol.  I.). 

Massena,  a.  p.  V. — Etudes  sur  I'art  de  la  gravure  sur  bois  a 
Venise.     Paris,  1895 — 6. 

Morin,  L. — French  Illustrators.     New  York,  1893. 

MuTHER,  E. — Die  deutsche  Bucherillustration.     Leipzig,  1884. 

Papillon,  J.  B.  M.— Traite  de  la  gravure  en  bois.     Paris,  1766. 

Pennell,  J. — The  Illustration  of  Books.     London,  1896. 

Pexnell,  J. — Modern  Illustration.     London,  1895. 

Pennell,  J.,  and  E.  E. — Lithography  and  Lithographers.  London, 
1898. 

Pingrenox,  E. — Les  livres  ornes  et  illustres  en  couleur  dejjuis  le 
XV^  Siecle  en  France  et  en  Angleterre. 

Pollard,  A.  W.— Early  Illustrated  Books.     London,  1893. 

Pollard,  A.  W.— Italian  Book  Illustrations.     London,  1894. 

Eoux,  V. — Traite  de  gravure  hiiliographique  en  taille  douce. 
Paris,   1886. 

SCHNAUSS,  J.— Collotype  and  Photo-lithography.     London,  1889. 

Senefelder. — Complete  Course  of  Lithography.     London,  1879. 

Singer,  H.  W.,  and  Str.vng,  W.— Etching,  Engraving,  etc. 
London,  1897. 

Sketchley,  E.  E.  D.— English  Book  Illustration  of  To-day. 
London,   1903. 

Smith,  F.  H.— American  Illustrators.     New  Yorh,  1893. 

Strange,  E.  F. — Japanese  Illustration.     London,  1897. 

Verfasser,  J.— The  Half-tone  Process.    London,  1904. 


11(1    TIIK    I'.ooK':    TTS    HISTORY   AND   DHVKLOP^rKNT. 

ViDAL,  L.     Triiit6  rrati(iuo  do  J'liolo-litliof^riqiliic     J'uris,  iJSfi.'J. 

Villon,  A.  M. — Traitc!  Pratique  do  Photogravure.     Paria,  1891. 

White,  J.  W.  G.— P:ngli«h  Illufstration,  "The  Sixties."  Wed- 
mrnsier,  1897. 

WiESBACii,  W. — Die  Baseler  Bucliillustration  des  XV.  Jahrhunderts. 
I.eipzUj,  1896. 

WiLKiNsox,  W.  T. — Photo-mechajiical  Processes.     L<m<lon,  1892. 

Wood,  II.  T. — Modern  Methods  of  Illustrating  Books.  Londoii, 
1887. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


MISCELLANEA. 


Book  edges  and  their  decoration — Embroidered  books — Cloth  bindings 
— Account  books — End  papers— Small  metal-bound  books — 
Books  bound  in  tortoiseshell — Chained  books — Horn  books. 

The  projecting  bosses  and  corners  which  occur  in 
medi.Tval  bindings  were  to  protect  them  against  the  friction 
of  other  books  which  lay  upon  them,  a  thin  piece  of  wood 
dividing  them.  The  books  were  piled  upon  each  other, 
so  that  if  one  of  the  lower  ones  was  wanted  it  was  necessary 
to  remove  the  upper  ones.  This  caused  much  trouble,  so 
that  in  due  time  it  was  found  better  to  stand  the  books  up 
on  end  on  shelves. 

The  i)rone  position  is,  however,  the  better  one  for  the 
book,  and  the  respective  levels  of  the  edges  of  the  book  and 
the  edges  of  the  boards  are  designed  for  this  position. 
"When  the  books  were  set  up  on  end,  the  discrepancy 
between  the  levels  of  the  book  edges  and  the  board  edges 
was  never  rectified,  and  the  result  is  that  a  large  amount  of 
damage  has  been  done.  When  a  large  book  is  set  ujd  on 
end,  the  weight  of  it  rests  entirely  upon  the  lower  edges  of 
the  boards,  and  the  lower  edges  of  the  book  itself  are  up  in 
the  air  above  the  shelf  by  so  much  as  the  projection  of  the 
edges  of  the  boards  beyond  them.  The  result  is  that  the 
whole  of  the  weight  of  the  vellum  or  paper  of  the  book 
pulls  upon  the  bands  of  the  back  in  their  weakest  direction, 


H2    THE   ]U)OK:    ITS   IITSTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


from  within  and  more  jiarticularly  from  the  top,  therehy 
pulhng  the  hack  imvards.  The  mass  of  tlie  hook  falls 
forward  slantingly,  until  the  lower  edge  of  the  front  of  it 
rests  upon  the  shelf. 

It  is  difficult  to  describe,  hut  my  sketch  will  show  what  I 

mean,  and  the  truth  of  it  can  he  easily  seen  in  almost  any 

library  of  old  hooks  tluit  are  kept  "  on  end  "  ;  the  edges  will 

be  found  grubby  from   resting  on  the  shelf,  and  the  top 

of     the    hack     will    Ije    found     pulled 

forward. 

Valuable  books  that  are  kej^t  upright 
should  have  the  edges  of  the  boards  level 
with  the  edges  of  the  leaves,  and  then 
this  disastrous  pull  would  not  occur. 

A  remedy,  however,  may  be  found  by 
means  of  a  piece  of  wood  cut  the  same 
size  as  the  lower  edge  of  the  book  so  as 
to  fit  closely  into  the  hollow  between  the 
outer  edges  of  the  boards  and  the  lower 
edges  of  the  leaves.  Such  a  slij)  will 
neutralise  the  drop  of  the  leaves,  and  i)reserve  the  proper 
form  of  the  backs  of  heavy  books. 

But  before  the  upright  position  was  finally  adopted  for 
books,  and  their  titles  were  put  on  their  backs,  the  front 
edge  or  "  forage  "  of  the  leaves  was  always  kept  outwards, 
in  view,  and  on  this  space  or  long  panel  all  sorts  of  devices 
and  letterings  were  put. 

Leaves  of  a  book,  pressed  tightly  together,  provided  too 
tempting  a  space  to  be  ignored,  to  say  nothing  of  the 
usefulness  of  giving  the  name  or  title  of  the  book,  or  the 
device  of  its  owner,  or  even  a  decorative  design.     So  on  fine 


Fig.  70. — luside  of 
heavy  book  fallen 
forward,  by 
reason  of  being 
kept  upright. 


MISCELLANEA. 


143 


mediaeval  books  and  also  on  later  books,  following  the  earlier 
manner  in  their  own  way,  we  find  all  sorts  of  designs  on 
book  edges.  It  is  not  a  subject  which  has  attracted  much 
attention  as  yet,  but  it  probably  will  in  time,  and  there  is 
already  enough  known  about  it  to  show  that  much  valuable 
knowledge  is  lying  hidden  up  in  it.  For  instance,  if  a 
book,  otherwise  likely,  has  the  words  "  Eex  in  /Eternum 
Vive  "  painted  in  gold  on  the  edges,  it  is  a  positive  sign 


Fig.  71. — Forage  decorutiou  iu  colour.     Tenth  century. 

that  it  issued  from  the  workshop   of   Thomas   Berthelet, 
printer  and  binder  to  Henry  VIII. 

Edge  decoration  of  some  sort  seems  to  have  been  done 
from  the  tenth  centtn-y  onwards ;  at  first  elementary  or 
symbolical  designs  were  simi^ly  painted  upon  the  edges,  and 
not  counting  the  mere  book  titles  or  press  marks,  it  may  be 
said  that  since  the  fourteenth  century  heraldry-  has  played 
a  very  important  jiart  in  edge  decoration.  In  England  this 
form  of  adornment  for  a  bound  book  has  been  largely 
followed  from  tliat  time,  and  there  are  fine  examples  of  it 
in  books  bound  for  Henrj'  VII.  and  the  other  of  our  Tudor 


Ml    TIIK    liOOK:    ITS    IIISTorfY   AND   DKVKLOPMKNT. 

sovereigns,  as  well  as  for  private  persons  of  the  same  period. 
The  edges  are  treated  as  panels  and  the  painting  done 
upon  them  when  pressed  iirmly  and  solidly  together.  The 
edges  are  generally  coloured  some  neutral  colour  as  a 
groundwork  and  sometimes  lettering  in  gold  is  done  uyum 
them. 

Henry  YIII.  often   had  the  legend  "  liiox  in   /Eternum 
Vive  Nez  "  written  in   gold  on  the  cream  coloured  edges 


Fig.  72. — Italian  forage  decoration  in  gold  and  colour  (I.jOO). 

of  his  hooks,  and  all  that  are  so  lettered  are  attributed  to 
Thomas  Berthelet  as  binder.  The  "  Nez "  is  rather  a 
puzzle,  and  it  was  suggested  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Scott,  of  the 
British  Museum,  that  it  stands  for  the  three  mitial  letters 
of  the  phrase  in  the  Book  of  Daniel,  ^a^ovx^obovoauip  Eaaei 
Cijdi — a  quite  possible  solution. 

Queen  Anne  Boleyn's  copy  of  the  New  Testament  has  her 
name,  "Anna  Eegina  Anglle,"  written  in  red  upon  its 
gilt  edges. 

For  Queen  Elizabeth,  book  edges  were  usually  gilded,  and 
on  this  gilding  designs  were  impressed  with  ordinary 
binding  tools.  This  is  the  commonest  form  of  edge 
decoration,  and  is  called  "  gauffring."  Gauffred  edges 
are  found   in  abundance   in  French,   German  and  Italian 


MISCELLANEA. 

work.  There  are  fine  examples 
of  it  on  books  bound  for  Henri 
II.  of  France  and  all  his  chil- 
dren, and  on  those  made  for 
Diane  de  Poictiers,  Duchesse 
de  Valentinois.  In  all  these 
cases  colour  is  often  added  to 
the  designs  on  the  gold.  Le 
Gascon  put  some  elaborately 
painted  edges  on  some  of  his 
books ;  on  Italian  books  and 
English  books  colour  is  spar- 
ingly used  ;  on  the  other  hand, 
in  Germany  and  the  Low 
Countries  colour  was  often 
overdone  and  the  result  is 
garish. 

Until  the  time  of  Samuel 
Mearne,  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  all  edge 
paintings  were  done  on  the 
edges  of  the  leaves  simply 
pressed  solidly  together,  but 
Mearne  invented  a  new  fashion 
of  arranging  the  leaves.  In 
the  case  of  the  older  manner 
we  usually  find  the  upper  and 
lower  edges  painted  as  well  as 
the  fore-edge,  or  '<  forage,"  but 
it  is  only  the  forage  that  can 
be  painted  in  Mearne's   style, 

T.B.  L 


':^4<t 


^ 


f"''^r*  ■•■■^'^^',-'<ii^'S-"'^  ■■'■■-■■I, -■■■-.■■■ 


Fig.  73. — German  forage  deco- 
ration in  gold  and  colour. 
The  arms  of  Nuremberg 
(1566). 


146    THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

and  so  in  all  instances  of  this  kind  the  upper  and  lower 
edges  are  left  plain. 

Mearne  had  his  book  forwarded,  finished,  and  the  edges 
gilded  before  beginning  his  painting.  Then  he  opened  the 
book  by  the  upper  board  only,  and  laid  it  down  fiat  on  its 
back  and  kept  it  in  that  position  by  weights.  In  this 
position  it  will  be  found  that  the  forage  fans  out  into  a 
larger  panel  than  exists  when  the  book  is  shut  up.  On 
this  fanned-out  panel  the  painting  was  done  in  water- 
colours    with   as    dry    a   brush    as    possible.      When  the 


Fig.  74. — Book  fanned  out  to  show  forage  painting  in  Mearne's  style. 

painting  was  finished  and  the  book  allowed  to  resume  its 
normal  shut  position,  the  edge  painting  entirely  disappeared, 
and  the  gilding  on  the  forage  looked  as  if  nothing  was 
behind  it.  So  thoroughly  does  such  a  painting  disappear 
that  I  have  found  several  that  were  quite  unknown  to  their 
owners,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  are  plenty  of 
unrecognised  examples  in  English  private  libraries  in 
perfect  condition  and  safe  obscurity. 

The  only  name  I  have  found  on  any  of  Mearne's  forage 
paintings  is  that  of  "  Fletcher." 

After  Mearne,  for  about  one  hundred  years,  I  know  of  no 


MISCELLANEA. 


147 


particular  development  of  forage 
decoration,  but  towards  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  the  same  principle 
was  revived  by  James  Edwards  of 
Halifax.  Edwards  had  an  artist 
brother,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that 
he  j)ainted  the  edges  on  his  brother's 
curious  vellum-bound  books.  The 
designs  are  not  so  markedly  heraldic 
as  the  earlier  examples  were,  but  are 
often  biblical. 

Edwards'  delicate  paintings,  always 
on  small  books,  were  copied  for  some 
considerable  period,  and  man}-  little 
books  were  made  with  such  work  upon 
them  for  many  years.  Windsor  and 
Eton  are  both  favourite  subjects,  and 
country  houses  of  all  sorts.  Land- 
scapes are  particularly  suitable  for 
this  form  of  painting,  and  many  speci- 
mens are  very  pleasing. 

All  the  foregoing  paintings  are  done 
so  as  to  be  complete  on  each  book,  but 
some  time  ago  a  remarkable  set  of 
Italian  books,  I  believe  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  were  brought  to  Eng- 
land. The  forages  of  these  volumes 
were  painted  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  complete  design  only  showed  when  they  were  all 
arranged  in  proper  order  on  a  shelf  with  their  forages  out- 
wards.     In  the  case   of   sets   of   books   bound  uniformly, 

L  2 


Fig.  75. — Portrait  of 
Charlfts  II.  in  colom-, 
on  the  forage  of  a 
book  bound  for  the 
king  bj'  Samuel 
Mearne. 


148    THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

this  manner  of  ornamenting  them  is  worthy  of  the  attention 
of  some  of  our  enterprising  modern  binders. 

Although  the  greater  number  of  books,  both  in  manuscript 
and  printed,  have  been  bound  in  leather  or  veUum,  there 


Fig.  76. — Eiiglish  velvet  binding,  witli  seals,  made  for 
Henry  VII. 

are  still  very  many  that  have  been  covered  in  other 
materials. 

The  commonest  of  these  materials  are  velvet,  canvas, 
satin,  silk,  cloth,  linen,  and  buckram.  I  believe  that  all  o! 
these,  except  perhaps  the  last  three  in  recent  times,  have 
been  more  used  in  England  than  they  have  been  in  any 
other  country. 

Velvet  is  the  most  interesting,  as  its  use   is   the  most 


MISCELLANEA.  149 

ancient,  of  any  of  these  textile  materials.  It  is  strong 
and  beautiful,  the  fur  or  pile  being  produced  in  a  very 
curious  manner.  Two  warps  are  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  the  fabric,  and  small  hollow  brass  wires,  slightly  flattened 
at  the  sides,  and  having  a  groove  along  the  top,  are  inserted 
transversely  under  the  raised  "  pile  "  warp  at  intervals  as 
the  weaving  proceeds.  These  wires  keep  the  thread  in  the 
form  of  upright  loops,  resembling  those  which  can  be  seen 
on  a  Brussels  carpet  on  a  larger  scale.  The  wires  are  then 
cut  out  by  drawing  a  sharp  specially-designed  knife  called 
a  truvat  along  the  groove  at  the '  top.  The  consequent 
separation  of  the  warp  threads  which  formed  the  row's  of 
loops  now  forms  the  pile,  each  tbread  standing  upright. 
It  is  wonderful  how  well  velvet  lasts,  and  what  hard  w^ear 
it  will  stand  before  all  the  pile  is  worn  away. 

Books  bound  in  velvet  are  not  uncommon  in  Dutch  work  ; 
they  are  sometimes  inlaid  in  differently  coloured  velvets, 
and  sometimes  embroidered.  In  France  books  have  rarely 
been  bound  in  velvet,  in  Italy  and  in  Germany  still  more 
rarely. 

In  England,  however,  there  has  been  a  considerable  out- 
put of  velvet  bindings.  Examples  still  exist  that  were  made 
in  the  fifteenth  century  for  Henry  VIL,  whose  library  was 
in  all  probability  entirely  bound  in  this  material.  Nothing- 
earlier  than  Henry  YII.'s  books  are  now  know-n  of  English 
bindings  in  velvet,  but  these  are  so  fine  that  it  is  likely 
enough  that  earlier  work  of  the  kind  was  done  in  the  case 
of  very  choice  manuscripts. 

Not  only  are  Henry  YII.'s  books,  which  are  still  in  their 
original  covers,  in  marvellously  good  condition,  but  they 
are  also  among  the  most  decorative  bindings  that  have  ever 


150    THE  BOOTC:  ITR  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


^^»^>^^^'^>^^^>^^'^^^i(('r""^     ^>^^^Y^,y,Y,^^^^ 


been  made,  here  or  in  any  other  country.  Fine  examples 
may  be  seen  in  the  Hbrary  at  Westminster  Abbey,  at  the 
PiBcord  Office,  and  in  tlie  British  Museum,  and  in  every  case 
their  beauty  and  interest  well  repay  the  trouble  of  obtaining 

access  to  them. 

These  volumes 
all  are  in  the  same 
style,  but  they  vary 
in  detail.  All  I  have 
seen  are  in  red 
velvet,  and  have 
metal  bosses  in  the 
centre  and  smaller 
ones  in  the  corner. 
One  of  the  hand- 
somest, which  may 
be  taken  as  a  type, 
is  a  copy  of  the 
indentures  made 
between  Abbot  Islip 
and  Henry  VII.  for 
the  foundation  of 
the  chantry  at  West- 
minster. It  is  a 
large  manuscript  on  vellum,  and  is  covered  in  rich  red 
velvet  projecting  liberally  over  the  edges,  and  bound 
with  gold  fringe.  In  the  centre  is  a  circular  silvM^cup-like 
boss,  containing  the  royal  coat  of  arms,  France  an^lngland 
quarterly,  with  supjporters  of  red  dragon  of  Cadwallader 
and  white  greyhound  of  De  Beaufort,  cut  out  of  silver  and 
enamelled  in  proper  colours.      At  each  corner  is  a  circular 


1 


EiG.  77. 


-English  embroidered  book,  velvet. 
Made  for  Henry  XWl. 


MISCELLANEA.  151 

silver  boss  containing  the  De  Beaufort  device  of  a  portcullis 
gilt  and  cut  in  low  relief,  and  set  on  an  enamelled  back- 
ground of  the  Tudor  livery  colours,  green  and  white,  per 
pale.  There  are  clasps  of  cloth  of  gold  braid,  fastening  with 
a  chased  silver-gilt  button  bearing  an  enamelled  rose,  and 
dependent  from  the  lower  edge  of  the  board  are  five  silver 
boxes  bearing  Tudor  emblems  in  relief,  each  containing  an 
impression  of  the  great  seal. 

It  is  also  recorded  by  Paul  Hentzner  that  in  1598  he  saw 
Queen  Elizabeth's  library,  and  that  many  of  them  were 
bound  in  velvet  and  embroidered,  a  note  that  is  fully  cor- 
roborated by  such  of  her  books  as  now  remain. 

But  there  were  also  books  embroidered  upon  canvas  in  the 
fifteenth  century,  one  of  which  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
It  is  a  psalter  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  is  covered  in 
fine  canvas  on  which  are  delicate  embroideries  in  the  manner 
known  as  "  Opus  Anglicanum,"  which  looks  like  a  chain 
stitch,  but  is  really  a  cleverly  managed  split  stitch. 

This  remarkable  book,  the  earliest  known  example  of  an 
embroidered  binding,  has  upon  one  side  a  beautiful  re2)re- 
sentation  of  the  Annunciation,  and  on  the  other  a  Cruci- 
fixion. It  is  supposed  to  have  been  worked  by  Anne  de 
Felbrigge,  a  nun  in  the  convent  of  Minoresses,  at  Brusyard, 
in  Suffolk,  and  daughter  of  Sir  Simon  de  Felbrigge,  K.G., 
standard  bearer  to  Eichard  II.  It  is  considerably  worn  and 
faded,  but  the  designs  can  all  be  made  out. 

The  velvet  books  which  were  made  in  the  next  reign 
werejirnamented  with  embroidered  designs  appliques,  and 
many  of  them  are  very  handsome.  The  designs  on  such 
books  were  nearly  always  heraldic,  judging  from  those 
that  remain,  but  arabesques  and  floral  ornamentation  are 


152    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


often  met  with  on  satin.  Queen  Katharine  Parr  is  said  to 
have  embroidered  some  of  these  books,  and  there  is  one  in 
canvas  in  the  British  Museum,  and  one  in  canvas  and  one 
in  velvet  at  the  Bodleian,  which  are  supposed  to  have  been 
worked  by  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  always  with  braid. 
When  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  she  continued  her 

evident  liking  for  velvet  bound 
books,  and  she  had  them  of 
several  colours — red,  green,  or 
black.  Several  of  these  are 
richly  embroidered,  sometimes 
with  armorial  designs,  some- 
times floral,  and  sometimes 
arabesque.  Others  are  deco- 
rated with  brilliant  enamels  or 
gold,  centrepieces,  cornerpieces, 
and  clasps,  and  others  again 
have  applique  pieces  of  coloured 
satin,  on  which  is  gold  tooling, 
some  of  which  is  actually  put 
on  the  velvet  itself. 

Canvas     is      rarely      found 
during  Elizabeth's  reign,   but 
it  does  exist,  and  is  usually  embroidered  in  a  coarse  manner 
with  tent-stitch. 

In  the  seventeenth  century  the  taste  for  velvet  bindings 
still  remained,  but  not  so  exclusively,  as  there  were  many 
more  bound  in  silk  or  satin,  usually  white.  The  majority 
of  these  books  are  small.  Prayers,  Bibles,  Psalms,  and  the 
designs  upon  them  are  of  great  variety,  but  generally  have 
a    symbolic    tendency — figures   of    Faith,    Hope,  Charity, 


Fig.  78.^Engiisli  embroidered 
book,  canvas  (1648). 


MISCELLAXEA. 


153 


Peace,  Plenty,  and  numbers  of  biblical  subjects,  David  and 
Bathsheba,  Solomon  and  Queen  of  Sheba,  Jacob's  Dream, 
Jacob  wrestling  with  the  Angel,  Abraham  and  Isaac,  and 
many  more  ;  and  besides  these  there  are  numbers  of  quaint 
little  bindings  with  floral  designs. 

The  period  of  Nicholas.  Ferrar  s  curious  establish- 
ment at  Little  Gid- 
ding  in  Huntingdon- 
shire was  coincident 
with  the  reign  of 
Charles  I.  Here 
were  contrived  most 
interesting  Har- 
monies of  the  Scri})- 
tures,  done  under 
Ferrar's  superinten- 
dence by  his  nieces 
Mary  Collett  and  her 
sisters.  These  ladies, 
moreover,  bound  the 
Harmonies  them- 
selves, and  were  not 
only  the  first  English 
lady  binders  but  also  the  first  amateur  binders,  and  they 
bound  exceedingly  well.  Mrs.  Wordsworth  was  another 
pioneer  among  lady  binders.  She  covered  her  books  in 
pieces  of  her  own  old  dresses. 

Not  only  did  the  ladies  of  Little  Gidding  bind  their 
Harmonies,  sometimes  very  large,  in  sheep  skin,  morocco 
and  calf,  but  also  in  velvet,  curiously  ornamented.  I  have 
already  mentioned  that  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  art  of 


I'iG.   79. — English   embroidered    "double 
book,  satin,  seventeenth  century'. 


154    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


gilding  upon  velvet  was  known,  but  it  was  reserved  for  the 
ladies  of  Little  Gidding  to  bring  it  to  perfection. 

There  will  always  be  some  little  doubt  as  to  whether 
these  magnificent  gold  and  silver  tooled  velvet  books  were 
done  entirely  by  the  binders  at  Little  Gidding,  or  with  the 

assistance  of  their 
masters,  Bucks  of  Cam- 
bridge. There  is  a 
marked  similarity  of 
general  style  as  well  as 
of  detail,  but  the  larger 
Little  Gidding  books 
appear  particularly  to 
bear  the  impress  of 
more  irresponsible 
genius  than  that  of  the 
orthodox  university 
printers. 

Gilding  upon  velvet 
is  still  practised  a  little 
in  England;  the  ser- 
vice books  used  at  the 
wedding  of  the  present 
Prince  of  Wales  w^ere  in 
red  velvet  with  the  royal  monogram  impressed  in  gold  upon  it. 
With  the  eighteenth  century  an  end  came  to  any  great 
output  of  bindings  in  velvet,  canvas  or  satin ;  now  and  then 
an  isolated  specimen  is  found,  and  the  era  of  cloth  bindings 
began  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  main  difference  is  that  the  earlier  books  in  velvet, 
canvas  or  satin  were  always  specially  broad,  but  the  cloth 


Fig.  80. — English  embroidered  binding- 
canvas,  seventeenth  century. 


MISCELLANEA.  155 

bindings   were   trade  bindings  from  the   beginning,   with 
ver}^  few  exceptions. 

At  first  backs  of  paper  bound  books  were  strengthened 
by  pieces  of  ordinarj'  linen  or  calico  pasted  over  them,  the 
title  being  added  on  a  label ;  but  a  special  cloth  for  binding 
purposes  was  made  early  in  the  century  by  James  Leonard 
Wilson,  and  in  1822  Pickering's  Aldine  Classics  bound  in 
that  material  were  issued.  This  use  of  a  special  cloth  was 
largely  helped  and  fostered  by  Mr.  Archibald  Leighton,  who 
made  a  speciality  of  it.  The  cloth  was  sometimes  watered 
and  sometimes  plain.  Cloth  soon  became  a  favourite 
binding  for  cheap  books,  and  in  time  Wilson  found  a  way 
of  gilding  upon  it,  probably  by  the  use  of  dried  and 
powdered  albumen. 

Some  of  the  early  cloth  bindings  were  ornamented  by 
impressions  from  engraved  cylinders,  the  pattern  showing 
in  low  relief.  The  great  pressure  which  was  used  to  make 
this  impression  had  so  hardened  the  cloth  as  well  as  the 
boards  upon  which  it  is  fixed,  that  many  of  the  existing 
examples  of  the  work  are  still  in  j)erfect  condition. 

Then  gradually  came  ornamentation  stamped  in  gold  on 
the  sides  and  gold  lettering  on  the  back,  and  of  recent  years 
designs  and  pictures  stamped  in  colours  upon  cloth,  canvas 
and  buckram  have  become  common.  Many  of  these 
designs  are  excellent,  and  the  work  required  for  them  gives 
employment  to  a  large  number  of  designers  as  well  as 
colour  printers  and  block  makers.  Books  bound  in  these 
materials  look  well  and  last  well  for  a  time,  but  they  are 
essentially  short-lived  if  handled  much. 

About  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  numbers  of 
small   illustrated   periodicals,  landscape  annuals,  and  the 


156    THE  BOOK:   ITS  UISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

like  were  covered  in  watered  silk,  generally  red,  blue  or 
green.  These  also  do  not  last  well ;  but  if  any  copies  that 
are  still  in  a  good  state  are  found,  they  should  be  carefully 
preserved  as  they  are,  and  not  be  rebound  ;  they  represent  a 
type  of  binding  that  is  by  no  means  without  charm. 
Perhaps  the  most  important  books  which  were  originally 
issued  in  this  form  of  cover  were  the  two  beautiful  volumes 
of  Rogers'  Poems  and  Ifahj.  They  have  gilt  edges  and  are 
bound  with  flat  open  backs  and  sawn  in  bands. 

Buckram  is  generally  used  for  large  books,  as  it  is  stiff 
and  troublesome  to  fold  over  in  a  small  way.  If  a  large 
book  is  properly  sewn  and  has  proper  l)oards  it  may  well 
be  covered  in  buckram,  provided  it  is  not  to  be  much 
used.  The  Joints  soon  look  unsightly,  as  the  hinge 
movement  causes  the  dressing,  of  which  there  is  a  large 
proportion,  to  powder  out.  Backram  is  rarely  ornamented  ; 
indeed,  it  may  almost  be  said  that  a  book  bound  in  it  is  only 
intended  to  keep  together  until  such  time  as  it  can  be 
13roperly  bound  in  some  better  material. 

Art  canvas  is  sometimes  used  for  bindings,  and  it  is  fairly 
satisfactory,  but  has  the  same  delicacy  at  the  joints  as 
buckram,  and  soon  looks  shabby. 

There  is  now  such  a  quantity  of  cheap  literature  that  is 
not  likely  to  last,  or  to  be  wanted  to  last,  that  there  is  a 
large  and  increasing  demand  for  cheap  binding  materials 
other  than  leather.  So  there  is  an  important  future  for 
specially  prepared  binding  cloths  and  buckrams.  The  only 
libraries  that  are  likely  to  suffer  by  the  more  general  intro- 
duction of  such  materials  are  the  few  large  ones  that  are 
obliged  to  keep  all  their  books,  old  or  new,  in  working  order 
inside  and  outside. 


MISCELLANEA.  157 

Account  book  bindings  are  peculiar  and  very  strong. 
They  have  been  used  for  a  long  time  in  banks  and  business 
houses,  and  are  purely  utilitarian  and  coniijaratively  quite 
modern. 

Strong  sound  paper  is  an  essential  for  account  books. 
The  sewing  is  done  in  the  flexible  style,  but  on  broad  flat 
bands  of  vellum  or  leather  instead  of  raised  bands  of  hemp. 
The  ends  of  the  bands  are  fixed  between  two  boards,  pairs 
of  which  form  the  boards  of  the  book.  The  space  between 
the  edge  of  the  back  of  the  book  where  the  bands  leave  it 
and  their  inset  to  the  boards  is  not  drawn  close,  but  a 
narrow  margin  is  left  so  that  a  perfectly  flexible  and  strong 
leather  joint  is  left.  In  small  books  this  peculiarity  is 
known  as  a  French  joint,  and  it  obviates  the  common 
failing  of  sides  falling  away  from  otherwise  sound  bindings 
along  the  joint-line  at  the  back. 

The  back  of  account  book  bindings  looks  very  strong,  but 
it  is  really  nothing  of  the  sort.  It  is  only  a  show  back,  to 
take  the  lettering  and  cover  up  the  real  joints,  which  are 
securely  laid  along  the  edges  of  the  boards. 

When  an  account  book  is  opened  it  "  sets  up  "  so  that 
it  can  be  easily  read  right  down  to  the  sewing  at  the  back. 
This  is  of  great  value  in  many  cases  other  than  the  keeping 
of  accounts,  and  it  is  the  only  advantage  of  the  common, 
but  weak,  bindings  with  "  hollow  "  backs.  But  there  is  no 
doubt  that  a  modified  form  of  account  book  binding,  with  a 
French  joint,  is  a  style  which  might  with  advantage  be 
studied  by  our  modern  art  binders. 

The  study  of  end  papers  is  to  some  extent  necessary  for 
the  true  judgment  of  the  work  of  certain  binders.  For 
instance,    Thomas   Berthelet    normally    used    white    end 


lo8    THE   P.OOTv:    TTS   TTTSTORY   AND   Dl'^VlOLOPMENT. 

papers,  Samuel  Mearne  used  red  marbled  end  papers,  and 
Roger  Payne  used  purple  or  pink  end  papers.  The  Italian 
binder  who  worked  for  Grolier  used  vellum  for  end 
paper,  and  so  on.  The  knowledge  of  such  details  is  useful 
in  detecting  frauds,  as  they  are  apt  to  be  under-estimated 
in  importance  by  a  forger. 

Of  all  end  papers  the  most  common  is  marbled  paper, 
and  one  of  the  most  curious  usages  of  it  is  when  a  beautiful 
and  delicate  French  binding  has  a  charmingly  gold  tooled 
doublure  of  splendid  leather  faced  by  a  wretched  leaf  of 
marbled  paper. 

The  usual  marbled  paper  is  made  by  means  of  a  bed  of 
size  on  which  colour  is  sprinkled  by  a  brush,  the  colour 
lies  on  the  top  of  the  size  and  is  moved  about  Ijy  means  of 
a  wide-toothed  comb  or  a  pin  or  anything  that  is  handy, 
until  the  resulting  pattern  is  to  the  satisfaction  of  the 
operator.  Then  the  paper  is  laid  down  in  the  size,  and 
when  raised  up  it  brings  all  the  colour  with  it.  It  is 
generally  easy  to  see  how  the  pattern  has  been  made  by 
looking  at  the  paper,  and  it  will  be  found  that  the  most 
usual  forms  have  been  made  by  the  use  of  a  broad-toothed 
comb.  I  should  think  that  the  process  might  well  have 
produced  something  better  than  it  ever  has ;  undoubtedly 
if  J.  M.  Whistler  had  ever  known  of  it  we  should  have  had 
some  remarkable  results. 

Marbling  is  probably  of  Oriental  origin,  and  was  most 
likely  first  practised  in  German}',  so  far  as  Europe  is  con- 
cerned. It  was  certainly  understood  in  Nuremberg  in 
1599,  as  specimens  made  there  are  to  be  seen  in  the 
Album  Amicorum,  of  J.  Cellarius,  of  that  date.  It  is, 
of  course,  obviously  capable  of  endless  modifications,  and 


MISCELLANEA. 


159 


of  late  years  some  very  delicately  and  prettily  coloured  end 
papers  have  been  made. 

More  or  less  in  continuation  of  the  mediaeval  fashion 
of  covering  book-bindings  with  richly-worked  metal 
overlays,  we  find,  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  particularly,  numbers  of  small  books  bound  in 
metal  or  with  metal  enrichments  in  the  form  of  centrepieces 
and  cornerpieces.  Clasps  occur  all  along,  and  although  I 
hardly  think  that  they  have  followed  out  any  very  marked 
line  of  development,  I  expect 
that  some  day  a  careful  study 
will  be  made  of  them,  when 
some  such  development  may 
possibly  be  discovered.  No 
student,  as  far  as  I  am  aware, 
has  made  any  attempt  to 
classify  book  clasps. 

But  the  English,  German, 
French,  Italian,  and  Dutch 
bindings  with  metal  enrich- 
ments are  pretty  well  known 
and  generally  admired.  The  English  are  the  finest  by 
far,  and,  as  far  as  I  can  ascertain,  the  earliest.  In  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  it  was  the  fashion  for  ladies  to 
carry  small  books  of  devotion  at  their  girdle.  These 
little  books  were  always  ornamental,  and  they  had  a  ring 
fixed  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  binding  so  that  when  the 
book  was  lifted  up  it  came  right  for  reading.  One  of 
these  belonged  to  one  of  the  queens  of  Henry  YIII.  ;  it 
is  a  copy  of  the  Psalms,  and  is  bound  in  gold  with  a 
delicate  leafy  spray  in   high  relief.      On  it  are  remains 


Fig. 


si. — English  golden  book, 
made  for  Henn'  VIII. 


100    THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AXD    DEVELOPMENT. 

of  enamel,  and  in  the  l)er;innin<,'  is  a  tiny  miniature  of 
the  Iving. 

Another  heautiful  little  golden  hook  with  a  design,  pro- 
hably  by  Ilolhein,  in  black  enamel,  is  now  the  property  of 
Lord  Romney. 

Sev(U'al  small  golden  bindings  with  scriptural  subjects  in 
high  relief  and  enamelled  were  made  late  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  j\fost  of  these  are  now  divorced  fiom  their 
original  texts,  and  are  only  kept  as  specimens  of  enamel 
work,  but  in  one  instance  the  whole  bf)ok  is  perfect.  This 
is  a  little  book  of  prayers  that  belonged  to  Queen  Elizabeth. 
On  one  side  of  it  is  the  Serpent  in  the  Wilderness  and  on 
the  other  the  Judgment  of  Solomon. 

For  the  same  queen  a  little  copy  of  Christian  Medita- 
tions was  bound  in  red  velvet  with  golden  centrepieces, 
corners,  and  clasps.  The  enamels  in  this  case  are  champ- 
leve,  and  still  perfect  in  colour.  They  are  said  to  have 
been  the  work  of  George  Heriot,  Elizabeth's  goldsmith,  who 
founded  a  hospital  in  Edinljurgh, 

James  YI.  of  Scotland  wrote  the  i^arnkiKov  Acopoi; 
for  his  son  Henry,  and  the  precious  MS.  was  bound  in 
purple  velvet  with  golden  centrepiece  and  clasps.  The 
gold  is  cut  out  thin  and  then  finished  by  engraving.  "When 
king  of  England  James  had  some  of  his  books  bound  in 
velvet  with  silver  enrichments.  On  one  of  these,  a  little 
book  of  Christian  Meditations,  which  is  bound  in  jDurple 
velvet,  the  royal  coat-of-arms  is  engraved  on  the  centre 
oval,  and  on  the  corners  are  the  national  crests  of  England 
and  Scotland,  the  crowned  harp  of  Ireland,  and  the 
fleur-de-lis  of  France. 

A  beautiful  little  New  Testament  of   1643  with   silver 


MISCELL.\NEA. 


161 


portraits  of  Charles  I.  and  Queen  Henrietta  Maria,  and 
cornerpieces  and  clasps  engraved  with  allegorical  figures, 
shows  that  metal  on  velvet  was  still  a  popular  style,  but 
on  later  bindings  in  England  metal  centrepieces  fell  quite 
out  of  use.  Metal  corners,  however,  were  still  used  for  some 
time,  and  clasps  occasionally. 

Bindings  entirely  of  silver  are  rare  in  English  workman- 
ship, but  they  were  not  unknown,  as  a  tine  sijecimen  with 
a  repousse  figure  of  Charity  covers  a 
Common  Prayer  of  1632. 

Of  German  and  Dutch  workman- 
ship many  metal  bindings  exist,  and 
they  are  of  varied  styles.  All  these 
bindings  have  solid  metal  backs  witli 
hinges  along  the  sides,  and  usually  a 
sort  of  cap  projecting  over  the  head- 
band. Many  of  the  later  examples  are 
not  good,  but  are  made  of  bad  metal 
and  coarsely  worked  in  repousse.  The 
worst  of  them  are  probably  Dutch  work. 

Some  of  the  earlier  German  silver  bindings  are  prettily 
ornamented  with  niello  work,  and  others  have  filigree  work 
over  gilt  metal,  and  the  use  of  tortoiseshell  with  silver  or 
gilt  mounts  is  also  found  of  Spanish,  German,  or  Dutch 
workmanship.  I  should  say  that  the  best  guide  to  deter- 
mine to  which  of  these  countries  the  work  belongs  is  to 
take  the  place  of  imprint  as  authoritative.  The  imprint 
on  a  printed  book  does  not  by  any  means  always  imjily 
that  a  binding  was  made  there,  but  in  many  doubtful  cases 
it  is  undoubtedly  of  much  value  as  to  mere  nationality ; 
the  style  of  the  Ijinding  itself  should   always  be  the  first 

T.B.  JI 


Fig.  82.  —  Geiinau 
binding  in  silver 
filitiieo  and  niello. 


162    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY   AND  DE^rELOPMENT 


consideration.  Some  Dutch  bindings  are  made  in  base 
metal,  gilt,  often  with  open  work  and  engraving.  They 
are  neither  good  to  look  uj^on  nor  pleasant  to  handle. 

Italian  bindings  in  metal  are  rare,  and  it  is  only  in  the 
case  of  very  small  books  that  it  was  ever  used.  The 
manner  of  this  is  usually  fine  filigree  work  over  a  gilt 
groundwork.  There  is  one  example  in  the  Victoria  and 
Albert  Museum,  which  is,  however,  more  likely  to  be  quite 
an  exceptional  production  than  one  in 
any  way  representing  a  national  tyj)e. 
It  is  an  exquisitely  enamelled  golden 
book  cover,  having  on  one  side  the 
Garden  of  Eden  and  on  the  other  the 
Fountain  of  Youth ;  it  contains  a 
missal,  and  is  said  to  have  been  made 
for  Queen  Henrietta  Maria. 

In  France  a  few  silver  bindings  of 
the  sixteenth  century  with  enamels 
have  been  made,  but  they  are  very 
rare,  and  the  enamels  of  the  basse 
taille  style,  usually  badly  chijDped. 
]  believe  some  small  metal  bindings 
with  rough  enamels  upon  them  have  been  made  in  com- 
paratively modern  times  in  Piussia.  These  all  have  a  strong 
Byzantine  feeling  and  are  clear  survivals  of  the  same  style 
that  was  in  vogue  in  Russia  in  mediaeval  times,  and  was 
used  not  only  for  bindings  but  also  for  ikons  and  triptychs. 
The  work  is  coarse  and  unsatisfactor}-. 

Tortoiseshell  mounted  in  metal  has  been  largely  used  for 
bindings  in  Holland,  Germany,  and  Spain.  The  backs  are 
hinged  to  the  sides  with  long  snuff-box  hinges,  and  the 


Fig.  83.— Dutch  binding 
in  tortoiseshell  and 
silver. 


MISCELLANEA. 


163 


shell  itself  is  sometimes  beautifully  inlaid  with  silver  and 
mother-of-pearl.  Some  of  these  covers  are  very  small, 
particularly  the  Dutch  ones,  and  designs  are  sometimes 
impressed  upon  them. 

Mother-of-pearl  has  now  and  then  been  utilised  for 
binding  very  small  books.  The  backs  and  hinges  are 
usually  of  silver. 

The  curious  custom  of  fastening  books  to  their  shelves 
by  means  of  chains  was  common  enough  in  Europe  in 
mediaeval  times  and  became  almost 
universal  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries  in  churches.  It 
was  of  course  done  as  a  safeguard 
against  thieves,  and  as  far  as  I 
know  only  in  the  case  of  printed 
books.  Although  printed  books 
soon  became  plentiful,  yet  no  doubt 
in  the  case  of  Bibles  and  Prayer 
Books  it  is  likely  enough  that  a 
considerable  leakage  took  place. 
Such  small  books  were  commonly 
chained  to  the  backs  of  the  pews 

in  private  chapels  throughout  England,  and  undoubtedly 
the  custom,  though  inconvenient  in  use,  was  effective 
enough  for  its  purpose. 

Larger  books  would  naturally  belong  to  important 
libraries,  those  of  cathedrals  and  churches  particularly, 
and  of  these  there  are  still  left  jjlenty  of  examjDles  still  in 
chains. 

The  chains  are  of  iron,  average  3  feet  long,  and  are 
clamped  to  the  front  edge  of  the  u^jper  board  by  means  of 

M  2 


Fig.  84. — German  chained 
book,  fifteenth  centuiy. 


1G4    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVEEOPMENT. 

a  rivet;  the  other  end  of  the  chain  is  provided  with  a  ring 
which  runs  freely  to  and  t'ro  along  a  locked  metal  rod. 
Enough  play  is  given  by  the  chain  to  allow  of  the  book 
being  taken  off  its  shelf  and  rested  on  the  desk  close  at 
hand  which  is  always  provided  for  it. 

There  is  a  certain  fashion  in  the  way  of  attaching  these 
chains.  In  foreign  books  the  fastening  is  usually  found  at 
the  top  of  the  upper  board,  while  in  the  case  of  English  books 
it  is  usually  fixed  on  the  front  edge  of  the  upper  board. 
The  books  were  normally  kept  with  their  forages  outwards, 
and  on  these  edges  the  titles  were  written  or  emblazoned. 

The  Laurentian  Library  at  Florence  has  a  large  number 
of  chained  books  kept  in  beautifully  carved  shelves. 

The  Church  of  St.  Wallberg  in  Zutphen  has  several 
chained  books.  There  is  a  legend  that  the  devil  carried  off 
so  many  of  the  holy  books  that  something  had  to  be  done, 
so  the  chains  were  blessed  in  due  form  with  holy  water, 
since  when  the  books  have  been  safely  preserved. 

Plenty  of  examples  of  chained  libraries  are  still  left  in 
England,  particularly  at  Hereford  Cathedral,  the  old 
treasure  house  at  Wimborne  Minster  and  All  Saints'  Church 
at  Hereford ;  a  complete  list  of  them  is  given  in  Blades' 
"  Books  in  Chains,"  published  in  London  in  1892. 

The  inconvenience  of  chains  must  have  been  considerable, 
and  no  doubt  careless  readers  often  got  into  trouble  about 
them.  On  a  notice  concerning  the  library  at  King's  College, 
Cambridge,  in  1683,  readers  are  requested  to  replace  the 
volumes  "  decently  without  entangling  the  chains." 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  centurj^  the  incon- 
venience of  chains  on  books  was  fully  realised,  and  from 
that   time   there   has   been   a   general   tendency   to   their 


MISCELLANEA. 


165 


rfituvyvxysSi  aeiou 
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQ 
RSTUVWXYZ 

•  eiou        »eioi» 

ab  «b  lb  ob  ub  ba  be  bi  bj  bu 

8C  9C   IC  OC   UC  Cil  ce  ci  CO   cu 

&d  ;i  id  odudda  de  di  do  du 

InlhsN.meoflheF.lher   t  of  |K« 

Son  fcofiSeHoI^  GKoft    ^/nja 

OUR  F.ther,  whicKarfia 
Htivtn.hallowedbelhy 
Name,  thy  K  incdomcome,  iKy 
'  'beioneonEartli,a(iroia 
Heaven  Give  ut  this  Day  our 
ddily  Bread,  and  forgive  uiour 
Trelpaffes,  as  we  forgive  them 
tKat  Trefp«fs  agsiaft  us ,-  And 
'ead  ui  not  intoTemptiiiotx.  but 
delivevusfnjm  Evil    ^mtn 


removal,  except  in  cases  where  their  retention  is  advisable 
for  antiquarian  reasons. 

True  horn  books  \Yere  used  in  England  and  America, 
but  similar  constructions  also  existed  in  other  countries — 
chiefly  France,  Germany,  Italy, 
and  Holland — but  without  horn 
covering. 

They  were  for  children's  use, 
and  the  alphabet  and  the  Lord's 
Prayer  are  the  commonest  letter- 
ings upon  them,  always  begin- 
ning with  a  cross,  giving  the  first 
Hne  the  name  of  the  "Christ 
cross"  or  " criss  cross"  row. 
The  paper  for  true  horn  books  is 
printed  only  on  one  side,  and 
then  laid  down  upon  a  flat  piece 
of  wood.  Some  unused  eigh- 
teenth century  horn  book  sheets 
are  preserved  in  the  Bagford 
fragments  at  the  British  Museum. 
Over  the  printed  slip  a  piece  of 
horn  is  put,  kept  in  place  by  strips  of  brass  fastened  with 
nails  having  facetted  tops,  but  it  must  be  noted  that  after 
about  1820  the  facetted  tops  were  often  replaced  by 
flat  heads. 

Like  all  books  or  objects  which  were  originally  cheap  and 
common,  horn  books  are  now  very  rare,  but  they  are  so 
valuable  that  it  is  unluckily  worth  while  to  imitate  them, 
and  many  fraudulent  modern  specimens  are  about.  A  horn 
book  is,  unfortunately,  easy  to  copy,  and  it  is  sometimes  a 


KU;     THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

very  difficult  thing  to  say  positively  whether  a  given 
specimen  is  genuinely  old  or  not.  Modern  frauds  are  often 
wrong  in  either  the  printing,  the  paper,  the  horn,  or  the 
nails,  but  they  are  often  right  as  to  the  wood,  which  is 
easily  made  to  have  every  proper  appearance  of  age  by 
means  of  soaking  in  water,  rubbing  with  sand,  staining  by 
ammonia,  and  so  on.  Collectors  should,  if  possible,  get  a 
properly  authenticated  history  with  every  specimen  offered 
to  them. 

Small  plaques  for  teaching  the  alphabet  seem  to  have 
existed  before  the  invention  of  printing,  but  in  printed  form 
they  were  most  used  towards  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century  until  the  nineteenth,  when  their  character  altered, 
the  wooden  frame  and  its  horn  covering  disappeared,  and 
a  degenerate  production  in  varnished  cardboard,  preserving 
the  old  form  in  some  respects,  took  their  place.  These 
cards  are  often  called  battledores,  but  this  name  was  an 
old  one,  and  originally  used  for  true  horn  books.  The 
name  battledore  is  probably  derived  from  the  batlet,  which 
was  used  for  beating  clothes,  the  horn  books  somewhat 
resembling  this  in  shape. 

Although  the  general  run  of  horn  books  are  simple,  there 
are  many  instances  in  which  they  have  been  decorated ;  a 
certain  analogy  thus  exists  between  the  diptychs  and  the 
horn  books.  Lord  Egerton  of  Tatton  has  a  beautiful  six- 
teenth century  example,  the  back  of  which  is  ornamented 
with  silver  filigree  work,  and  horn  books  backed  with  Dutch 
silver,  engraved,  are  sometimes  found.  These  generally 
have  a  bird  or  a  tulip  engraved  upon  them. 

Other  ornamental  examples  are  to  be  found  in  the 
Birmingham  Museum   and   in   private   ownership.     They 


MISCELLANEA.  167 

are  very  decorative,  and  some  of  them  have  talc  mstead  of 
horn  in  front. 

In  1851  some  curious  stone  moulds  were  found  at  Hartley 
Castle  by  Sir  George  Musgrave,  and  one  of  them  was 
undoubtedly  used  for  casting  lead  "  horn  "  books,  and 
similar  moulds  have  been  found  in  Germany ;  the  English 
ones  may  have  been  made  about  the  earlier  half  of  the 
sixteenth  century. 

But  more  curious  devices  were  found  on  the  other  side  of 
the  same  piece  of  stone  :  these  are  undoubtedly  the  emblems 
of  saints'  days  as  shown  on  clog  almanacks  of  the  same 
period,  so  that  the  horn  books  may  possibly  have  originated 
from  the  makers  of  cast  leaden  almanacks. 

Horn  books  were  also  cut  in  ivory  or  bone,  often  with 
designs  engraved  on  the  back  or  on  the  handle.  The  letter- 
ing and  devices  were  originally  run  in  with  heelball  or  some 
such  material.  They  were  also  made  of  boxwood  with  letters 
burnt  in,  or  engraved  pewter,  or  gingerbread,  and  some- 
times covered  in  paper  with  panel  stamp  impressions  in 
blind  or  black  ink. 

Several  of  the  later  seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth 
century  horn  books  were  covered  with  leather  and  stamped 
in  blind,  gold,  silver,  or,  in  Dutch  examples,  Dutch  metal, 
which  nearly  always  turns  black,  from  panel  stamps  ;  some- 
times the  designs  were  arabesques  or*flowers,  and  at  other 
times  we  find  figures  of  saints  or  kings — St.  George  and  the 
Dragon,  mermaids,  and  the  like — and  several  of  Charles  II. 
on  horseback,  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  other  great 
people. 

These  same  stamps  are  also  often  imj^ressed  on  paper 
backs  as  well  as  on  leather. 


KJS     THE   I'.OOK:    ITS   IIISTOKY   ANJJ    DEVELOl'MKNT. 

The  late  cardboard  horn  l)Oolis  either  leave  out  the  cross 
at  the  begmning  or  replace  it  l)y  a  meaningless  X ;  they  also 
often  show  additional  alphabets  with  little  wood-cut  illus- 
trations. At  last  the  horn  book  form  is  quite  lost,  and  at 
last  we  find  folded  pieces  of  cardboard  with  stami:>ed  or 
marbled  backs,  retaining  only  the  alphabet  to  show  that 
they  are  survivals. 

WORKS  TO  CONSULT. 

Blades,  W.— Books  in  Chains.     London,  1892. 
Davenport,  C. — English  Embroidered  Bookbindings.  London,  1899. 
Davenport,  C. — Book  Edges.     (Bibliographica.) 
Davenport,  C.    Little  Gidding.     (Bibliograi:)liica.) 
Davenport,  C. — Royal  English  Bookbindings.     London,  1897. 
Labarte,  J. — Hist,  des  Arts   Industriels  au  Moyen  Age.     Paris, 
1864-66. 
Lacroix,  p. — Le  Moyen  Age  et  la  Renaissance.     Paris,  1848-51. 
LiBRi,  Count  G. — Monuments  Inedits.     Londres,  1862. 
Prideaux,  S.  T. — Historical  Sketch  of  Bookbinding.  London,  1893. 
Tuer,  a.— History  of  the  Horn  Book.     London,  1896. 
WooLNOUGH,  0.  W. — The  Art  of  Marbling. 


CHAPTEE  YII. 

LEATHERS. 

Vellum — Calf — Pig  skin— "Sheep  skin — Goat  skin — Seal  skin,  etc. 

Prepared  skins  of  animals  have  been  the  most  generally 
used  of  all  materials  for  covering  bindings  of  manuscripts 
or  printed  books.  Leather  is  tanned  skin,  and  the  hair  is 
generally  removed.  Bindings  that  have  the  hair  still  left  on 
the  leather  are  usually  of  an  elementary  kind  and  are 
intended  to  be  carried  about  in  pockets.  They  are  not 
common.  Vellum  (calf  skin),  and  parchment  (sheep  skin), 
are  not  tanned,  but  are  prepared  with  lime  and  are  white. 
Not  unconimonly,  especially  in  Germany,  other  skins  were 
so  prepared.  Pig  skin,  deer  skin,  goat  skin,  horse  skin, 
and  donkey  skin  were  all  "  vellumised,"  and  are  all  very 
strong  and  take  excellent  impressions  in  blind. 

It  is  likely  enough  that  vellum  was  used  for  the  first 
covering  of  books,  simply  enclosing  the  sections,  the  ends 
of  the  bands  drawn  in,  without  boards.  Such  bindings  are 
excellent  for  thin  books,  and  they  were  successfully  re-intro- 
duced in  recent  times  b}^  "William  Morris,  always  used  with 
ties,  as  otherwise  the  vellum  crinkles  up. 

"  Vellum  "  bindings  made  now,  unless  specially  ordered, 
are  only  ordinary  bindings  in  boards  covered  with  vellum. 
Vellum  is  strong,  but  has  some  disadvantages.  Although 
gold  looks  beautiful  upon   vellum  it  is  difficult   to  work, 


170    TITK    P.OOK:    ITS   TTTSTop.Y   AXT)   DEVELOPMEXT. 

and  title  labels  do  not  stick  to  it  well.  If  kept  near  the 
light  it  turns  to  something  very  like  egg-shell  and  chips  off. 
This  defect  was  known  to  librarians  in  past  times,  and 
they  met  it  by  keeping  their  vellum  books  backs  inwards, 
the  forages  outwards.  Many  instances  of  this  manner  of 
keeping  vellum  books  occur  in  the  Bodleian  Library  at 
Oxford,  and  they  generally  have  their  old  pressmarks,  and 
sometimes  titles,  written  across  the  top  of  the  forage.  Old 
vellum  was  cut  thick,  and  seldom  ornamented,  and  if  kept 
dry  in  the  dark  it  is  an  excellent  material.  The  same 
•  peculiarities  exist  in  the  case  of  parchment,  which  is,  how- 
/  ever,  a  very  inferior  skin,  thinner,  weaker,  and  not  so  good 
•  looking.  Parchment  is  frequently  described,  and  used,  as 
vellum,  and  few  purchasers  know  the  difference  ;  but  the 
market  value  of  parchment  is  less  than  half  that  of  vellum. 
Vellum  is  particularly  well  suited  for  bindings  kept  in  large 
towns,  as  dust  does  not  stick  to  it,  and  it  is  easily  cleaned. 
'In  time  it  assumes  a  creamy  colour  that  is  delightful. 
From  the  late  sixteenth  century  until  now,  vellum  stained 
green  has  been  commonly  used  in  England. 

White  vellumised  leather,  probably  deer  skin,  has  always 
been  much  liked  in  England  from  the  time  of  Henry  YIIL, 
many  of  whose  books  were  bound  in  this  material  :  among 
them  a  copy  of  Elyot's  "  Image  of  Governance,"  printed  in 
London  in  1541,  which  is  one  of  the  first  books  with  gold 
tooling  upon  it  done  in  this  countr3\  Several  books  were 
bound  in  the  same  thick  white  leather  for  the  other  Tudor 
sovereigns,  as  well  as  for  some  of  their  richer  subjects,  but 
in  the  seventeenth  century  limp  vellum  once  more  asserted 
its  sway  and  became  very  popular  in  England  for  highly 
valued  books.     The  brilliancy  of  the  gilding  upon  some  of 


LEATHEES.  171 

these  bindings  is  quite  wonderful ;  it  is  certainly  doubtful  if 
any  modern  finishers  could  equal  the  technical  beauty  of 
the  work.  Then  in  the  eighteenth  century,  vellum,  though 
still  much  esteemed,  only  took  its  place  as  a  covering  for 
boards,  and  once  more,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  Morris 
restored  it  to  its  proper  use  as  a  limp  binding. 

In  1785,  James  Edwards  of  Halifax  patented  a  way  of 
rendering  vellum  transparent,  so  that  paintings  underneath 
it  showed  through,  and  he  used  it  with  much  success.  The 
process  has  been  revived  of  late  years  in  England. 

The  Dutch  binders  have  always  liked  vellum,  but  it  is 
used  with  boards  and  never  limp.  Dutch  vellum  bindings 
are  usually  coloured,  not  well  done,  but  at  a  distance  they 
look  decorative,  and  were  certainly  very  popular.  They 
often  have  clasps  and  painted  edges. 

A  few  bindings  have  been  made  in  England,  France,  and 
Holland,  covered  with  pierced  vellum,  showing  coloured  silk 
underneath.  They  are  not  very  satisfactory  and  soon  get 
out  of  order. 

After  vellum  comes  calf,  the  outer  skin  of  the  same 
animal,  tanned.  Calf  is  a  good  second,  and  I  think  alto- 
gether, up  to  about  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  that 
it  has  been  more  used  than  any  other  leather.  The  main 
difference  between  old  calf  and  modern  calf  is  that  the  old 
leather  was  properly  tanned  with  oak  bark  or  sumach,  and 
cut  thick,  whereas  modern  calf  used  for  binding  is  abomin- 
ably tanned,  quickly  and  disastrously,  and  cut  thin.  There 
is  no  better  leather  than  old  calf, and  it  was  used  universally; 
England,  France,  Germany,  and  Italy  all  liked  it ;  it  was 
delightful  to  decorate,  either  in  blind  or  gilt,  and  it  mellowed 
with  age  to  a  rich  mahogany  brown.     Italian  and  sixteenth 


172     TIIK   r.OOlC:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   DEATJ/)PMKNT. 

century  English  binders  stained  their  fillets  black,  and 
several  of  these  calf  bindings,  richly  gilded,  and  with  black 
fillets,  are  quite  splendid,  in  perfect  taste. 

The  surface  of  calf  is  smooth,  and  it  is  very  sensitive  to 
all  sorts  of  stains. 

Calf  is  seen  at  its  best  when  it  is  used  to  take  impressions 
from  panel  stamjDS,  but  its  beautiful  surface  and  sensitive- 
ness to  stains  of  all  kinds  has  made  it  a  favourite  ground 
for  all  sorts  of  fancy  markings,  most  of  which,  however 
charming  they  may  be  at  first,  end  by  destroying  the 
leather. 

Russia  leather  is  calf  prepared  with  willow  bark  and 
scented  with  birch  oil.  It  is  a  modern  leather,  and  lasts 
badly,  and  is  generally  diced, — that  is  to  say,  covered  all 
over  with  diagonal  rulings.  It  was  a  favourite  leather  of 
Roger  Payne's.  It  is  said  that  a  book  bound  in  Russia 
leather  will  last  better  if  much  used,  and  no  doubt  this 
is  true,  not  only  of  Russia  but  of  any  other  leather. 
As  a  rule  leather  bindings  in  libraries  are  starved  ;  they  get 
dry,  and  readily  absorb  animal  oil  from  the  human  hand. 
The  truth  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  numbers  of 
dictionaries  and  books  of  reference  were  preferentially 
bound  in  Russia  leather  some  thirty  or  forty  years  ago,  and 
whereas  unused  books  bound  at  the  same  time  in  the 
same  way  now  show  rotting  leather,  the  reference  books 
which  have  been  continually  used  are  quite  sound  and 
supple. 

Cow  hide  is  like  a  magnified  calf  leather,  and  shows  a 
slightly  pitted  surface.  It  is  not  often  used,  but  is  of  much 
value  for  very  large  books  that  are  worth  full  binding,  as 
one  piece  of  hide  could  be  cut  large  enough,  for  instance,  to 


LEATHEES.  173 

full-bind  the  Skibhereen  Eagle,  one  of  the  hxrgest  Irish 
newspapers.  It  would  take  three  or  four  of  the  largest 
goat  skins  to  do  this,  and  it  is  always  advisable  to  avoid 
joins,  wherever  possible,  in  a  binding.  But  there  is  one 
drawback  to  the  use  of  hide  for  binding :  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  cut  it  smooth ;  however  skilfully  it  may  be 
pared,  when  it  gets  on  the  book  it  is  always  ridgy.  This  is, 
of  course,  not  very  important,  but  it  militates  against  the  use 
of  hide  except  when  absolutely  necessary.  For  the  rest, 
hide  takes  colour  well,  and  it  is  a  very  handsome  leather, 
and  when  it  is  finished  simply  with  very  broad  gold  fillets 
it  is  very  ornamental. 

Pig  skin  is  perhaps  the  most  familiar  of  all  bookbinding 
leathers  to  the  outside  world,  because  saddles  are  made  of 
it.  It  is  a  thick,  rich  leather,  and,  so  to  speak,  full  of  life. 
It  is  not  suitable  for  small  books,  but  very  good  for  large 
ones,  and  has  been  used  in  England  off  and  on  for  a  long 
time,  but  never  very  nnich.  Charles  Lewis  executed  some 
fine  examples  of  his  larger  bindings  in  pig  skin,  but  I  think 
he  never  cared  much  for  it. 

Pig  skin  responds  admirably  to  treatment  with  lime,  the 
same  method  of  preparation  as  used  for  vellum  ;  and  this 
white  "  vellumised  "  pig  skin  has  always  been  the  most 
favoured  material  for  the  covering  of  fine  German  books  of 
the  fifteenth,  sixteenth,  and  seventeenth  centuries.  Many 
of  these  bindings  are  perfect  in  their  way,  covered  all  over 
with  delicate  roll  stamps  showing  marvellous  definition  and 
clearness  on  the  hard  white  surface. 

Fine  though  all  their  impressions  are,  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  they  are  difficult  to  see  ;  the  impressions  are  shallow, 
and  indeed  the  designs  can  often  be  more  easily  made  out 


174    THE  BOOK:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

by  help  of  a  rubbing  with  heelhall  on  soft  white  paper  than 
by  examining  the  binding  itself. 

Pig  skin  can  be  recognised  by  its  smooth  hard  surface, 
strongly  pitted  with  bristle  holes.  It  is  closely  imitated  in 
inferior  leather,  bristle  holes  and  all,  and  when  such  imita- 
tion is  actually  on  a  book  it  is  very  difficult  to  detect,  but  if 
in  skin  form  it  can  easily  be  recognised.  In  real  pig  skin  the 
bristle  holes  penetrate  right  through  the  leather,  and  show 
quite  as  much  at  the  back  as  they  do  in  the  front,  whereas 
in  the  imitation  they  show  little,  if  at  all,  at  the  back. 
Also  the  back  of  real  pig  skin  is  of  very  firm,  close  texture, 
but  the  imitation  shows  a  more  or  less  woolly  or  loose 
grained  back,  as  it  is  generally  made  of  sheep  skin.  French 
binders  have  never  favoured  pig  skin  much — it  is  not  dainty 
enough  for  them. 

Sheep  skin  has  always  been  a  favourite  leather  for  book- 
binding, but  it  is  not  a  fine  leather  and  has  never  been  used 
for  first-rate  binding.  It  has,  however,  been  more  worked 
up  than  anything  else  into  imitations  of  fine  leathers. 

The  imitation  of  fine  leather  in  inferior  sheep  skin  has 
been  for  a  long  time  a  very  important  industr}',  and  it 
is  one  which  is  still  with  us.  All  fine  leathers  show  a 
particular  and  well  known  grain  on  their  surface,  but 
the  most  largely  imitated  is  that  of  goat  skin  or  morocco. 

In  a  well  grained  skin  of  morocco,  the  beautiful  grain  is 
strongly  marked,  whether  it  be  "  pinhole  "  or  "  straight  " — 
so  strongly  marked  indeed  that  a  cast  of  it  can  well  be  made 
in  plaster  of  paris.  From  such  a  cast  a  metal  die  can  be 
made,  and  when  this  die  is  strongly  pressed  upon  a  prepared 
piece  of  sheepskin,  which  will  take  an  impression  extremely 
well,  the  result  is  that  a  surface  is  produced  which  is  so 


LEATHEES.  175 

exactly  like  a  piece  of  morocco  that  even  a  leather  expert 
may  be,  and  often  is,  taken  in  by  it.  In  course  of  time, 
however,  the  impression  flattens  out,  and  the  fraud  betrays 
itself. 

When  such  a  stamped  sheep  skin  is  new  on  a  book,  and 
finished  with  gold,  no  one  would  for  a  moment  suspect  its 
genuineness,  but  if  in  skin  form,  the  back  of  the  leather 
will  at  once  betray  it.  Real  morocco  has  a  hard  close 
grain,  but  the  Ijack  of  the  imitation  will  show  a  loose  soft 
texture.  Other  leathers  are  imitated  in  the  same  way  :  pig 
skin,  lizard  skin,  and  others;  and  although  there  has  been, 
and  still  is,  much  of  such  imitation  used  in  the  matter  of 
bookbindings,  there  is  still  more  of  it  used  in  the  furniture 
trade. 

But  putting  aside  these  base  uses  of  sheep  skin,  it  has  a 
very  fair  record  to  show  on  its  own  unaided  merits.  Many 
early  Italian  bindings,  good  ones,  were  made  in  slieep  skin ; 
certain!}^  it  has  not  lasted  well,  but  no  doubt  when  new  it 
was  pleasing  enough.  In  England,  many  of  the  early 
fifteenth  century  panel  stamp  bindings  were  made  in  sheep 
skin,  not  quite  satisfactory  now,  but  also  probably  well 
enough  when  new. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  much  in  favour  of  modern  roan, 
the  trade  name  for  sheep  skin,  which  has  suffered  badly  at 
the  hands  of  the  tanner  and  the  dyer  ;  also  probably  the 
l)inders  have  not  been  without  fault,  as  in  order  to  get  the 
leather  flexible  for  joints  and  bands  they  have  acquired  a 
pernicious  habit  of  paring  it  too  thin,  and  another,  equally 
hurtful,  of  unduly  pulling  and  stretching  it  so  that  the 
fibres,  or  what  is  left  of  them,  get  strained  and  broken. 

Skiver  is   part   of   a    split    sheep    skin,    the    surface  of 


ITG     Tin:    I'.OOK:    ITS   HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

which  is  altogether  artificiah  It  is  much  used  for  cheap 
pamphlet  hindinj,'s  and  looks  well  for  the  moment,  but  is 
not  so  strong  as  good  paper.  It  is  wonderful  how  cleverly 
the  "  paste  grain  "  or  artificial  surface  of  skiver  is  made;  it 
deceives  most  people  easily.  Tho  remaining  part  of  a 
split  sheep  skin  is  prepared  quite  differently  and  is  made 
into  "  chamois  "  leather.  Although  this  is  not  used  for 
actual  bindings,  it  is  often  enough  made  into  linings  for 
loose  covers  of  fine  books.  It  does  well  for  this  purpose, 
but  must  be  kept  in  a  very  dry  place  as  it  has  a  certain 
affinity  for  damp. 

The  finest  of  all  leathers  for  binding  is  goat  skin,  morocco 
as  we  now  call  it,  from  the  reputed  land  of  its  origin. 
"  Levant  morocco  "  is  still  the  name  of  the  finest  skins. 
Goats,  however,  have  of  course  been  common  enough  all 
over  the  world  for  ages,  and  so  we  find  very  ancient  bindings 
in  goat  skin,  quite  possibly  the  most  ancient,  although  I 
rather  incline  to  vellum  in  this  connection. 

Many  of  the  English  twelfth  to  fourteenth  century 
blind  tooled  bindings  are  in  goat  skin,  tanned  brown,  most 
likely  with  oak  bark,  and  from  that  period  until  now  it 
has  always  been  used  here,  at  some  i^eriods  more  than 
others. 

Goat  skin  always  shows  small  hair  dots  in  groups  all  over 
its  surface ;  it  is  not  quite  smooth  like  calf,  and  also  it 
shows  certain  structural  striations.  In  early  goat  bindings 
both  these  marks  show  clearly,  and  until  the  time  of  Roger 
Payne  in  the  eighteenth  century,  the  leather  was  left  in  its 
natural  state  so  far  as  surface  marks  went. 

Italian  bookbinders  at  an  early  date  saw  the  beauty  of 
natural  sunk  lines  on  goat  skin,  and  accentuated  them  by 


LEATHEES.  177 

rubbing  in  gold  leaf.  On  such  bindings  the  markings  on 
the  leather  show  as  fine  gold  lines ;  it  is  a  pretty  idea,  and 
can  often  be  found  on  sixteenth  century  bindings,  especially 
on  those  that  were  made  for  Tommaso  Maioli. 

French  morocco  bindings  are  frequently  stained  with 
colour,  particularly  those  which  were  made  about  the  time 
of  Henri  IL  in  the  sixteenth  century.  The  stain  is  usually 
put  on  the  fillets  or  arabesques  surrounding  a  central 
oval,  in  which  is  often  a  painted  coat-of-arms.  But  as  a 
rule  such  coloured  bindings  are  in  calf,  which  takes  stain 
more  easily  than  morocco. 

Goat  leather  has  never  been  so  much  liked  b}'  German 
binders  as  calf  or  pig  skin.  This  is  partly  due  to  the  fact 
that  German  bindings  are  as  a  rule  ornamented  wilh  blind 
tooling,  and  goat  skin  is  never  satisfactory  when  treated  in 
this  way :  its  grain  is  against  it ;  but  for  gold  tooling,  which 
has  been  brought  to  its  greatest  perfection  by  Italian, 
French  and  English  binders,  there  is  nothing  that  gives  so 
fine  a  result  as  goat  leather. 

Roger  Payne  saw  and  liked  the  natural  grain  of  goat 
skin,  or,  as  we  may  now  call  it,  morocco.  But  he  found 
that  in  many  cases  he  could  get  a  better  impression  from 
his  very  delicately  cut  stamps  in  Eussia  leather.  Here, 
however,  he  was  restricted  to  one  colour,  and  his  favourite 
colour,  a  neutral  green,  could  only  be  procured  in  morocco. 
So  he  ironed  the  morocco  to  flatten  its  natural  hills  and 
dales,  and  produced  something  like  what  is  now  called 
"  crushed  "  morocco.  Payne's  smooth  morocco  is,  however, 
not  quite  our  modern  "  crushed  "  ;  it  is  smoother,  because 
now  we  "  grain  "  our  leather  strongly  before  crushing  it, 
whereas   Payne   ironed    his    without    first   increasing   its 

T.B.  N 


178    THE  BOOK:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

natural  grain  by  artificial  means.  Morocco  is  often  badly 
injured  by  the  ironing  being  done  with  irons  that  are  too  hot. 

But  Payne  went  a  step  farther.  No  doubt  he  experi- 
mented much  with  morocco,  and  it  is  likely  enough  that 
before  endeavouring  to  smooth  en  out  his  skins  he  wetted 
them  thoroughly.  If  he  wetted  a  fine  skin  of  morocco 
overnight  and  left  it  alone,  perhaj^s  doubling  it  or  rolling  it 
up,  he  would  have  noticed  next  morning  that  the  natural 
grain  had  become  much  intensified,  due  to  a  slight  shrink- 
age of  the  leather,  and  showed  as  a  particularly  effective 
breaking  up  of  the  surface.  Some  such  chance  led  him  to 
make  definite  experiments  with  a  view  to  exaggerating  the 
natural  grain  of  morocco,  and  he  very  soon  found  out 
that  if  a  damped  skin  was  well  rolled  in  one  direction  it 
assumed  permanently  what  is  now  known  as  a  "straight" 
grain.  That  is  to  say,  the  surface  of  the  leather  is  lined  in 
the  same  sort  of  way  as  a  ploughed  field  is,  but  not  quite 
so  regularly.  The  ridges  and  furrows  all  run  in  one 
direction.  Several  of  Payne's  bindings  are  bound  in 
straight  grain  morocco,  but  judging  from  his  own  work,  he 
never  got  any  farther  with  his  graining. 

At  a  later  time,  I  think  towards  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  it  was  found  out  that  if  the  process  of  straight 
graining  was  carried  out  a  second  time  at  right  angles  to  the 
first  oj)eration,  the  little  straight  furrows  and  ridges  were 
broken  up,  and  a  surface  was  produced  that  consisted  of  a 
series  of  minute  hillocks,  like  a  field  that  has  been  harrowed, 
and  this  is  known  as  a  "  pin-head  "  grain.  Both  these  grain- 
ings  improve  the  strength  of  the  leather,  as  it  contracts 
after  the  wetting  and  also  the  wear  falls  on  the  tops  of  the 
ridges  or  hillocks  before  it  reaches  the  body  of  the  leather. 


LEATHEES.  179 

French  binders  have  always  preferred  smooth  or  crushed 
morocco  for  their  bindings,  as  it  is  easier  to  gild  upon. 
Morocco  is  sensitive  to  damp,  and  if  affected  it  quickly 
betrays  it  by  giving  out  the  strong  scent  of  goat  which  is 
normally  quite  absent. 

Two  new  leathers  have  been  recently  put  upon  the 
market  as  rivals  of  morocco :  one  of  these  is  seal  skin  and 
the  other  the  skin  of  the  sea-lion. 

Seal  skin  is  finished  in  the  same  way  as  morocco  and 
looks  very  like  it,  but  it  is,  I  think,  not  so  good.  It  is 
softer,  more  full  of  oil  and  has  a  peculiar,  almost  fishy, 
smell.  The  softness  of  seal  leather  makes  it  unfit  for 
binding  books  that  are  likely  to  have  much  hard  wear,  but 
the  oiliness  is  probably  its  worst  fault,  as  books  standing 
next  to  it  are  apt  to  be  stained.  But  it  is  undoubtedly  a 
good-looking  and  useful  leather,  and  if  it  can  be  put  upon 
the  market  at  a  less  cost  than  morocco  it  is  sure  to  have  a 
considerable  vogue.  Sea-lion  skin  is  only  fit  for  use  on  big 
books  ;  it  is  very  strong  and  is  curiously  ridged  in  large 
ridges.  It  has  the  same  oiliness  that  seal  has,  but  not  in 
so  marked  a  degree. 

There  are,  of  course,  several  other  leathers  in  which 
books  have  been  bound  as  curiosities,  and  these  are 
generally  noted  in  some  way ;  a  book  in  the  British  Museum 
is  lettered  outside  "  Kangaroo,"  and  manuscript  notes  are 
in  others  telling  us  in  what  strange  materials  they  are 
covered.  Fish  skin,  known  as  shagreen,  has  sometimes 
been  used  for  bindings ;  it  is  very  strong  but  inelastic,  and 
soon  goes  at  the  joints.  In  the  seventeenth  century  it  was 
largely  imitated  in  calf,  stamped  with  a  grain. 

Perhaps  the  most  curious  leather  in  which  any  book  can 

N   2 


ISO    THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

be  bound  is  human  skin.  Such  treasures  are  by  no  means 
unknown.  It  is  said  that  a  friend  of  Camille  Flammarion 
the  French  writer,  possessed  beautiful  shoulders,  and  that 
when  she  died  she  bequeathed  her  skin  to  him  as  he  had 
always  admired  it.  He  had  the  skin  tanned  and  used 
some  of  it  for  a  binding  of  one  of  his  own  books,  "  Ciel  et 
Terre."  There  are  other  examples  in  private  ownership, 
but  so  far  as  public  libraries  are  concerned  the  only 
instance  I  know  of  is  now  in  the  Carnavalet  Library  at 
Paris.  It  is  a  cop}^  of  the  Constitution  of  1793,  and  is 
bound  in  the  skin  of  one  of  the  revolutionaries  who  was 
killed  at  the  time.  The  skin  was  tanned  at  Meudon. 
Human  skin,  undyed,  looks  like  thick  calf,  and  it  is  most 
difficult  to  get  entirely  rid  of  the  hair. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  of  late  years  the  desire  for 
beautifully  coloured  leathers  has  induced  the  need  for 
much  treatment  before  the  dj^es,  mostly  aniline,  could  be 
properly  applied.  In  the  course  of  this  treatment  there 
has  been  an  undue  use  of  sulphuric  acid,  and  the  presence 
of  this  acid  is  fatal  to  the  lasting  qualities  of  any  leather. 
Attention  has,  however,  been  drawn  to  the  evil  from 
authoritative  sources,  and  now  sound  leathers  can  be 
obtained,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  public  will  second 
the  endeavours  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  Society 
of  Arts  by  always  insisting  on  the  use  of  sound  and  certified 
leather  to  bind  their  valuable  books  in. 


BOOKS  TO  CONSULT. 

Society  of  Arts. — Eeport  of  the  Committee  on  Leather  for  Book- 
binding.    London,  1905. 
Library  Association.— Leather  for  Libraries.    London,  1905. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE    ORNAMENTATION    OF    LEATHER    BOOKBINDINGS    WITHOUT 

GOLD. 

Blind    tooling    and   stamping — Panel   stamps — Cut   leather — Stained 
calf — Cut  vellum — Transparent  vellum. 

The  true  binding  of  a  book  consists  of  the  sewing  of  the 
sections  on  bands,  and  the  covering  of  leather  is  really 
wanted  to  protect  the  threads  on  the  outer  surfaces  of  the 
raised  bands. 

But  this  is  generally  taken  for  granted,  and  now  when 
we  speak  of  the  binding  of  a  book  we  normally  mean  only 
the  outside  ornamentation.  In  short,  the  term  has  changed 
its  meaning  ;  so  in  the  remainder  of  this  chapter,  when  I 
speak  of  the  "  binding  "  of  a  book,  it  is  to  be  understood  as 
the  generally  accepted  meaning  :  namely,  those  parts  of  the 
leather  covering  that  are  visil)le. 

From  an  artistic  and  aesthetic  point  of  view  we  are  justi- 
fied in  considering  only  the  final  ornamentation  of  a  book 
binding.  We  rightly  j^resume  that  in  all  great  bindings,  and 
even  in  the  case  of  most  good  bindings,  the  technical  j)ro- 
cedures  have  all  been  truly  and  properly  carried  out.  It  is 
safe  to  presume  this  in  the  case  of  all  bindings  made  before 
the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but  I  regret  to  say 
that  it  is  not  safe  to  say  it  of  bindings  made  then  and  later. 
There  has  been  much  improper  use  made  of  false  bands, 


182    THE  BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

false  headbands,  "  sawn  in "  backs,  bad  leather,  and 
scami:)ed  sewing  of  sections  even  in  books  costing  upwards 
of  a  hundred  pounds  for  their  bindings. 

The  consideration  of  the  ornamentation  of  leather  bind- 
ings without  the  use  of  gold  is  of  itself  a  large  study,  and 
one  that  has  received  much  attention  of  late  years.  In  the 
trade,  ornamental  outside  work  is  called  "  finishing,"  as 
distinct  from  the  previous  work,  which  is  known  as  the 
"  forwarding."  As  a  rule,  now,  these  operations  are  not 
done  by  the  same  hands,  but  a  finisher  does  the  finishing 
only  and  makes  it  his  speciality. 

Patterns  stamped  on  leather  by  means  of  launches  or 
small  dies  are  found  in  numbers  of  early  instances  on  horse 
trappings,  shoes  and  boots,  and  accoutrements  of  various 
sorts ;  and  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  found  out  that  skins  of 
animals  could  be  rendered  soft  so  as  to  be  wearable,  it  was 
also  found  out  that  the}^  could  be  ornamented  by  patterns 
cut  or  impressed  upon  them. 

Such  patterns  are  made  when  the  leather  is  damp  and 
soft,  and  on  drying  they  become  hard  and  permanent. 
Many  of  the  earlier  impressions  made  on  leather  bindings 
are  done  by  means  of  hard  styles  held  in  the  hand  and 
drawn  along  the  leather.  Beautiful  Celtic  interlacings  done 
in  this  way  are  found  in  the  ancient  Irish  "  polaires  "  or 
book  covers.  Others  are  small  ornamental  stamps  which 
have  been  impressed  on  the  leather  in  the  same  way  as  we 
now  make  an  ordinary  seal. 

One  of  the  earliest  instances  of  a  leather  binding  with 
ornamental  covers  is  on  a  Coptic  MS.  on  papyrus,  dating 
from  about  the  eighth  century,  which  has  been  originally 
stabbed,    and    the    pattern    is    an    interlacing    one   with 


OENAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD.  183 

ornamented  fillets,  between  which  are  impressions  from 
small  cameo  stamps.  In  time  special  tools  were  carefully  cut 
in  hard  wood  or  metal  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  ornament- 
ing leather  bindings.  The  exact  date  at  which  this 
occurred  it  is  impossible  to  say. 

So  far  as  Europe  is  concerned,  the  earliest  known  blind 
tooled  bindings  range  from  about  the  twelfth  century 
onwards.  Earlier  books  were  either  covered  with  the  rich 
metal  and  jewelled  mediaeval  work  that  I  have  already 
noticed,  or  else  bound  in  vellum  with  ties  and  without 
ornamentation. 

In  England  the  art  of  blind  tooling  reached  its  highest 
level  from  the  twelfth  to  the  fourteenth  centur}^  and,  thanks 
to  the  researches  of  Mr.  W.  H.  J.  Weale,  there  is  little  doubt 
that  the  English  excelled  in  this  art.  The  Germans  suc- 
ceeded best  after  the  English,  but  German  work  never 
approaches  the  English,  either  for  excellence  of  general 
design  or  for  delicacy  and  beauty  of  the  small  engraved 
stamps.  The  English  work  was  on  goat  skin  or  calf,  the 
German  generally  on  pig  skin. 

The  stamps  used  in  blind  tooling — that  is  to  say,  without 
gold — are  cut  in  the  same  manner  as  a  seal  stone  is,  only 
that  the  cutting  is  much  deeper,  and  in  deep  places  needs 
no  finishing.  When  this  is  pressed  upon  the  soft,  damp 
leather,  the  leather  rises  up  of  itself  into  the  deep  hollows 
cut  in  the  stamp,  and  so  a  charming,  natural,  and  apparently 
much  studied  relief  is  automatically  given.  Such  stamps 
are  called  "  cameo  "  stamps  because  of  this  relief. 

The  general  typical  arrangements  used  by  England, 
Germany,  and  France  in  planning  out  the  disposition  of 
the  stamps  is  a  subject  that  is  deserving  of  careful  attention 


184    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

by  any  student  of  blind  stamped  work.  Some  valuable 
plans  of  these  dispositions  can  lie  found  in  Mr.  W.  H.  J. 
Weale's  Catalogue  of  Bookbindings  and  Rubbings  of  Bindings 


Fig.  80. — Englisli  blind  tooled  binding, 
12tli  century.     London. 

in  the  National  Art  Library,  South   Kensington,  and  they 
are  well  worthy  of  study. 

Roughly,  it  will  be  found  that  the  most  elaborate  of  these 
bindings  have  come  from  Durham,  London,  Winchester,  or 


OENAMENTATION  "WITHOUT   GOLD.  185 

Oxford,  that  series  of  close  perpendicular  lines  of  small 
stamps  are  characteristic  of  French  early  stamped  work, 
and  that  the  marking  out  of  the  boards  with  large  lozenges 
is  a  German  plan.  But  these  types  must  not  be  studied 
alone,  as  they  travelled  about  freely ;  the  character  of  the 
stamps  themselves,  as  well  as  the  leather  used,  must  all 
receive  careful  consideration. 

London  bindings  often  show  perpendicular  lines  of  stamps, 
sometimes  touching,  sometimes  separate ;  several  of  the 
stamps  are  round,  and  others  drop-shaped. 

The  "Winchester  Domesday  Book,  now  in  the  library  of 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  is  a  beautiful  and  typical  speci- 
men of  English  twelfth  century  blind  tooling.  It  is  bound 
in  deep  brown  goat  skin,  and  each  side  is  differently 
ornamented. 

The  upper  board  shows  an  arrangement  of  two  large 
circles,  largely  made  up  by  imi)ressions  of  the  common 
English  drop-shaped  stamps.  These  circles  are  flanked 
by  two  rows  of  rectangular  stamps  bearing  monsters,  and  the 
corners  are  filled  in  with  circular  and  drop- shaped  stamps. 

Durham  bindings  must  be  studied  at  Durham  Cathedral, 
where  Bishop  Pudsey's  books  are  kept.  They  are  twelfth 
century  work,  and  splendid  examples.  On  some  of  these 
bindings  occur  interlacings  of  basket  work  designs,  borrowed 
from  the  East. 

One  of  the  most  curious  English  bindings  in  existence  is 
known  as  St.  Cuthbert's  Gospels.  Its  history  is  of  great 
interest.  It  is  a  copy  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  and  is  said 
to  have  been  buried  with  St.  Cuthbert  at  Lindisfarne  in  the 
seventh  centur}'.  The  saint's  coffin  was  shortly  afterwards 
moved  to  Durham.      The  tomb  was  oj^ened  in  the  reign  of 


18G    THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Henry  I.  in  1105,  when  the  little  copy  of  the  Gospel  was 
found  in  it,  and  removed  and  kept  in  the  treasury  at 
Durham. 

It  then  passed  through  many  hands,  and  at  last  found 

a  home  at  Liege, 
whence  one  of  the 
Jesuit  Fathers 
lirought  it  to  Stony- 
liurst  College,  where 
it  now  is. 

The  binding  is  of 
thin  lime  wood 
covered  with  red 
leather,  the  upper 
board  is  ornamented 
with  a  nearly  square 
central  panel  bearing 
a  Celtic  scroll  in 
raised  work.  Above 
and  below  this  are 
two  rectangular 
panels  ornamented 
with  scroll-work  im- 
pressed with  a  style 
and  coloured  by  hand 
with  blue  and  yellow  paint.  A  narrow  border  is  ornamented 
with  a  twisted  line  painted  yellow.  On  the  lower  cover 
is  a  geometrical  design  drawn  in  lines  and  also  coloured 
yellow. 

It  is  not  known  what  the  date  of  this  binding  is,  and  it  is 
likely  enough  that  the  extraordinary  state  of  preservation 


Fig.  87. — English  binding  of  St.  Cuthbert's 
Gospels,  in  embossed  leather. 


ORNAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD.  187 

in  which  it  still  is  may  be  due  either  to  very  careful  keejDing, 
or  else  that  the  seventh  century  work  has  been  carefully 
copied  on  one  or  other  of  the  many  occasions  during  which 
such  copy  could  easily  have  been  made. 

Mr.  Gordon  Duff  inclines  to  about  the  tenth  century,  but 
I  should  imagine  that  the  most  likely  time  for  such  a  copy 
to  be  made  was  when  the  tomb  of  St.  Cuthbert  was  opened 
in  1105,  and  the  book,  then  some  four  hundred  years  old, 
was  removed.  It  is  likely  enough  that  the  authorities  of 
the  Cathedral  library  treasury  at  Durham  would  have 
admired  the  binding,  which  was  probably  much  out  of 
condition,  and  had  it  carefully  copied  in  new  leather. 

Even  if  it  were  made  then,  it  would  still  be  the  earliest 
decorative  English  binding  left,  apart  from  blind  tooled 
work,  and  it  is  undoubtedly  a  most  decorative  and  effective 
example.  But  it  is  permissible  to  think  and  hope  that 
at  all  events  it  preserves  the  colour  and  designs  of  the 
seventh  century  binding,  which  was  the  first  cover  of  the 
old  manuscrij)t. 

Another  very  early  English  binding,  covering  a  Latin 
Psalter  of  the  early  twelfth  century  with  interlinear  Saxon 
version,  is  now  kept  in  the  British  Museum  among  the 
Stowe  collection. 

It  is  bound  in  oaken  boards  nearly  an  inch  thick,  the 
central  portion  of  which  is  hollowed  into  a  rectangular 
depression.  On  the  lower  board  is  a  bronze  figure  of  our 
Lord  in  the  attitude  of  the  Crucifixion.  The  figure  has 
been  gilded,  but  most  of  the  gold  has  now  worn  ofi".  The 
corners  have  small  bosses  set  in  triangular  pieces  of  thin 
metal,  which  are  impressed  with  a  design  of  a  Jieiiv-de-lys 
in  outline  within   a  circle.     The  boards  are  covered  with 


188    TPIE  BOOK:    ITS   TITSTORY  AND   DEVELOPMKXT. 

brown  leather,  much  worn  and  faded,  probably  deer 
skin,  and  the  brass  fastenings  for  a  clasp  still  remain  i)i 
situ. 

The  history  of  the  book  is  as  curious  as  the  book  itself ; 


Fig.  88. — English  binding  of  the  twelfth  century, 
with  bronze  figure  of  Christ. 


there  are   several  manuscriiDt  notes  in  it,  and  also  much 
has  been  written  about  it. 

It  appears  to  be  the  original  book  on  which  our  sovereigns 


ORNAMENTATION  AVITHOUT  GOLD.  189 

took  their  coronation  oath,  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
so  used  from  the  coronation  of  Henry  I.  to  that  of 
Henry  MI. 

Powell  in  his  Repertory  of  Records  mentions  this  as  a 
fact,  and  it  was  repeated  by  Thos.  Madox,  historiographer, 
and  also  b}-  Thos.  Astle,  Keei^er  of  the  Eecords  in  the  Tower 
of  London,  to  whom  it  belonged,  and  it  is  believed  to  have 
been  written  and  bound  for  the  coronation  of  Henry  I. 

From  the  library  of  Thomas  Astle  the  little  book  passed 
into  the  j)ossession  of  the  Marquis  of  Buckingham,  and  was 
kept  at  Stowe  in  a  beautiful  Gothic  room  built  for  a 
library.  In  June,  1849,  the  Stowe  library  changed  hands 
and  became  the  property  of  Lord  Ashburnham,  and 
in  1883  it  was  acquired  by  the  Trustees  of  the  British 
Museum. 

So  the  coronation  book  is  now  the  property  of  the  nation, 
and  in  company  with  the  greater  part  of  the  Stowe  library, 
but  the  Irish  MSS.,  some  of  them  in  beautiful  bindings, 
went  to  Ireland,  where  they  are  now  safely  kept  in  the 
library  of  the  Eoyal  Irish  Academy. 

Caxton's  styles  of  binding  are  not  distinctively  English 
in  character.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  in  all  probability 
he  brought  foreign  stamps  and  styles  with  him  when  he 
returned  from  Bruges  and  set  up  in  Westminster  in  1477. 
So  the  few  blind  stamped  bindings  that  appear  to  have 
issued  from  Caxton's  workshop  bear  the  diamond- shaped 
spaces  characteristic  of  foreign  work,  filled  with  impressions 
for  cameo  stamps,  often  triangular.  Wynkyn  de  Worde 
used  the  same  stamps. 

White  deer  skin  bindings  were  used  much  in  England  in 
the  fifteenth  century  ;  they  were  unornamented,  and  usually 


190    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

had  small  clasps.  A  fine  copy  of  the  Book  of  St.  Albans,  in 
a  contemporary  binding  of  this  kind,  was  recently  sold  by 
Mr.  Quaritch. 

A  curious  treatise  in  bookbinding,  the  earliest  known,  is 


Fig.  89. — English  blind  tooled  bindings. 
Caxton.     (1491.) 

in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  ;  but  there  are  two  treatises  by 
John  Bagford  which  may  be  of  about  the  same  date,  early 
in  the  eighteenth  century.  These  treatises  have  been 
published  by  the  Bibliographical  Society,  and  are  full  of 
interesting    matter.       Bagford    mentions    inscriptions   on 


OENAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD.  191 

stone,  "  slate  books,"  or  diptychs,  paste-boards,  sewing, 
headbands,  covers,  bosses,  clasps,  horn  books,  and  gives 
curious  rules  for  collating,  folding,  and  binding. 

At  Oxford  fine  blind  tooled  bindings  were  produced  in 
considerable  numbers.  In  the  fifteenth  century  Theodoric 
Rood  and  Thomas  Hunt  did  fine  work,  and  in  the  seven- 
teenth, Dominick  Pinart  and  Edward  Miles  were  especially 
prominent.  The  main  characteristic  of  early  Oxford 
bindings  is  the  presence  of  small  rectangular  stamps  closely 
arranged  in  rows. 

Cambridge  has  also  been  notable  among  English  towns 
for  the  production  of  fine  blind  tooled  bindings.  The  main 
characteristic  of  these  bindings  may,  perhaps,  be  considered 
to  be  the  existence  of  rolls  on  which  are  variations  of  the 
Eoyal  Tudor  badges,  rose,  fleur-de-lys,  portculhs,  the  castle 
of  De  Beaufort,  and  the  pomegranate.  Larger  rolls  have 
devices  of  monsters,  and  frequently  the  initials  of  the 
binders  may  be  found. 

In  the  sixteenth  century  the  works  of  Garrett  Godfrey, 
Nicholas  Spierinck  and  John  Siberch  are,  perhaps,  most 
usually  met  with.  They  show  the  initials  of  their  respective 
binders. 

Blind  tooled  bindings  of  French  origin  are  numerous 
enough,  especially  those  impressed  with  panel  stamps. 
The  main  characteristic  of  early  work  is  the  existence  of 
perpendicular  lines  of  blind  tooling,  but  although  this 
peculiarity  is  oftener  found  on  French  work  than  on  any 
other,  it  is  hj  no  means  unknown  in  bindings  made  by 
English  and  German  workmen,  so  must  not  be  taken  as  an 
absolute  proof  of  French  origin  if  unsupported  by  other 
evidence. 


192     THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Late  in  the  fifteenth  century  the  panel  stamp  was 
mvented  m  Holland,  or  the  Netherlands,  and  it  soon 
attained  a  great  measure  of  popularity.  It  reached 
England  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
although  at  first  foreign  dies  were  freely  used  here,  in  time 

our    native    binders    made 
their  own. 

In  France  and  Germany 
panel  stamps  were  also 
popular,  used  on  calf  bind- 
ings, but  I  think  that  in 
Italy  it  never  made  much 
headway. 

The  Netherlands  panel 
stamps  often  have  the  names 
of  the  binders  upon  them, 
Bollcaert,  Bloc,  and  many 
more,  and  the  same  valu- 
able information  is  also 
often  found  on  French  panel 
stamps  of  the  sixteenth 
century. 

The  best  known  names  are 

Andre  Boule,  Jean  Moulin, 

All  these  are  plentiful,  and 

condition.      The  English 

upon     them,    but 


Fig.  90. — French  blind  stamped 
binding  of  the  sixteenth 
centui'y.  With  figure  of  S. 
Barbara. 


R.  Mace,  and  Denis  Eoce. 

are    often    found    in    excellent 

panel     stamjjs     do     not    bear     names 

they  often  have  initials,  but  whether  it  is  safe  to  interpret 

these  is  difficult  to  say.     We  generally  consider  that  J.  R. 

stands  for  John   Pteynes,   I.  N.  for  Jean  Norins,  R.  L.  for 

Richard  Lant,  G.  G.  for  Garrett  Godfrey,  R.  P.  for  Richard 


ORNAMENTATION    WITHOUT   GOLD. 


193 


Pynson,  and  so  on ;  but  it  is  probable,  anyhow,  that 
although  panel  stamps  of  English  design  bearing  these 
initials  were  used  here,  they  were  largely  of  foreign, 
probably  Nether- 
landish, orighi. 

In  the  early  six- 
teenth century  in 
England,  heraldry 
was  an  important 
science,  and  began 
to  show  itself  as 
a  fertile  source  of 
ornamentation  of 
bindings.  Many  of 
the  panel  stamps 
of  the  early  Tudor 
period  are  heraldic. 
The  most  interest- 
ing of  these  stamps 
is  one  which  is 
found  in  combina- 
tion with  several 
others ;  it  seems 
to  be  a  sort  of 
backbone.  The 
design  consists  of  a  large  Tudor  rose,  partly  enclosed  by 
ribbon  on  which  is  the  legend  hec  rosa  virtutis  de 
CCELO     :\rissA     sereno     eternum     florens    regia    sceptra 

FERET. 

At  the  side  are  two  angels  and  in  the  corners  the  arms  of 
London  and  the  Cross  of  St.  George. 

T.B.  o 


Fig.  91. — English  blind  stamijed  binding, 
with  the  arms  of  Henry  VIII. 


194    THE   BOOK:    ITS  HISTORY    AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

Then  there  are  numbers  of  other  stamps  bearing  in  the 
centre  the  coat-of-arms  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIH.  up 
to  1526,  namely,  France  and  England  quarterly,  with 
supporters,  the  red  dragon  of  Cadwallader  and  the  white 
greyhound  of  De  Beaufort. 

Belonging  to  the  same  school  of  design  are  fine  panel 


EiG.  92. — Englisli  sixteenth  century  panel  stamp,  witli 
the  initials  of  Julian  Notary. 


stamps  bearing  the  armorial  devices  of  Anne  Boleyn  and 
Queen  Katharine  Parr. 

The  question  as  to  whether  these  stamj^s  are  royal  or 
not  inevitably  occurs  to  any  student,  but  as  with  one  or  two 
exceptions  they  carry  with  them  extraneous  ornament,  such 
as  the  sun  and  moon,  and  arms  of  London,  I  think  that 
any  such  stamp  cannot  have  been  royal,  but  it  is  possible 
enough  that  when  the  royal  arms  alone  are  found  the 
stamp  may  have  been  originally   cut  for   royalty.     Such 


OENAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD. 


195 


stamps  as  these  are  very  strong  and  are  not  likely  to  have 
ever  been  worn  out — indeed,  it  is  curious  that  instances  of 
unauthorised      use 
of  royal  stamps  is 
not  commoner  than 
it  is. 

One  of  the  most 
curious  of  these 
panel  stamps,  not 
armorial,  is  one 
which  bears  upon 
it  the  device  of 
John  Eeynes.  It 
shows  a  fancy  coat- 
of-arms  on  which 
are  the  emblems 
of  the  Passion, 
with  two  unicorns 
as  supporters,  a 
royal  helmet, 
above  which  are 
scourges,  &c.,  and 
a  crowing  cock, 
and  below  on  a 
ribbon    the    words 

"  Arma  redemptoris  mundi."  One  cannot  forget  here  that 
Dame  Juliana  Berners,  in  the  Boke  of  Cote  Armour,  declares 
the  Christ  was  a  gentleman  of  coat  armour  by  right  of  his 
mother  Mary. 

The  English  panel  stamps,  as  well  as  rolls,  of  the  early 
Tudor  period  often  bear   the  Tudor  badges  of  double  or 

o  2 


Fig.  93. — English  blind  stamped  binding, 
witb  the  arms  of  Queen  Katberine  of 
Arrasron. 


196    THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  ANJ)   DEVELOPMENT. 

Tudor    rose,    the    fleiir-de-lys,   and   the   portculhs  of    the 
De  Beauforts.     These  badges  are  usually  crowned. 

Panel  stamps  were  cut  on  latten,  a  metal  alloy  resembling 
brass.     The   thin   engraved   plate  was  fixed  on  a  wooden 


Fig.  94. — English  blind  stamped  binding,  with  arms 
of  Christ.     Bound  by  John  Eeynes,  c.  1530. 

block  by  means  of  two  pegs,  and  the  impression  was  made 
on  the  leather  either  by  the  use  of  a  hammer  or  by  means 
of  weights,  very  likely  by  a  combination  of  both  these 
methods. 

After  a  time  the  pegs  worked  loose,  and  very  frequently 


ORNAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD. 


197 


panel  stamjDs  are  found  in  which  the  impression  from  these 
loosened  pegs  can  be  seen. 

Many  German  calf  bindings  of  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth, 
and  sixteenth  centuries  are  beautifull}'  ornamented  with 
cut  work.  The  outlines  of  the  designs  are  cut  with  a  sharp 
small  knife  held  slantingl^y, 
and  afterwards  worked  into 
shajoe  with  blunted  tools. 
The  designs  upon  these 
bindings  are  often  very 
fine,  and  the  workmanship 
is  most  skilled  and  effec- 
tive. The  earliest  example 
I  know  of  is  elaborately 
ornamented  on  the  upper 
board  with  a  groundwork 
of  floral  scrolls,  and  has 
in  the  centre  the  Austrian 
coat-of-arms  supported  on 
an  eagle,  which  is  stained 
black.  On  a  scroll  above 
the  eagle  are  the  words 
"  Fridericus  rex,  etc.,  1451  " 
and  below  it  in  a  long  panel 
the  letters  "AEIOU,"  standing  for  the  proud  motto 
"Austria  est  imperare  orbi  universo."  Along  the  lower 
edge  is  cut  the  name  of  the  binder,  "  Petrus  Ligator." 

Hunting  scenes  and  scenes  of  religious  life  are  usually 
found  on  these  early  German  cut  leather  bindings,  now  and 
then,  as  in  the  case  of  the  splendid  sixteenth  century  copy 
of   Eanierus  de  Pisa's   Pantheohqia,   now  in  the   British 


Fig.  95. — English  blind  stamped 
bindinj?.     Pvnson,  1499. 


198    THE  BOOK:    ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Museum,  showing  a  monTv  at  his 
desk;  the  borders  are  ornamented  with 
small  stamps.  Cut  leather  bindings 
are  done  with  consummate  skill,  and 
must  alwaj^s  have  been  very  costly, 
so  we  find  that  they  were,  and  are, 
very  cleverly  imitated  by  skilfully 
cut  stamps.  An  example  of  this  is 
so  well  done  that  it  has  over  and 
EiG.  96.— German  cut   over  again  been  described  as  hand 

leather  binding,  made    ^^ork,  but  in  fact  it  is  only  a  stamp, 
lor    the    Jlimperor  ''  ^ 

Frederick  of  Austria.    German  leather  workers  are  still  pre- 

Dated  14ol.  eminent  in  this  small  cut  manner. 

At  the  St.  Louis  Exhibition  of  1904,  in  the  German  section 


Fig.  97. — English  blind  stamjDed  binding,  with  the  aiTQs 
of  Henry  VIII. 

there  were  several  examples  of  cut  leather   work  done  in 
exactly  the  same  way  as  the  fifteenth  century  work — and 


OENAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD. 


199 


quite  as  good.  It  is  not  only  used  for  book  bindings  but 
also  to  cover  boxes  and  small  articles,  but  as  we  have  noted 
in  the  case  of  earlier  work,  many  modern  apparently  hand- 
cut  German  leathers  are  really  only  mpressions  from  large 
panel  stamps. 

Notable   among  German  bindings   are   those   made   by 
John  Eichenbach,  of  Gyslingen,   who  lettered  and   dated 
many   of   his   fine   volumes.     The   dates   run   from    1467 
onwards.    There  is  one  fine  examjDle 
in  the  British  Museum ;  it  is  like  all 
the  rest,  in  pig  skin,  and  stamped 
in  blind,  a  little  transparent  colour 
being  put  over  many  of  the  stamps. 
Eound    the    outer    borders   of    the 
boards  runs  the  inscription  in  large 
black  letters  : 

ILLIGATA      PER     ME      10.       RICHENBACH 
CAPELLANU    IN     GYSLINGEN,  1475. 


Fig.  98. — German  bind- 
ing, by  J.  Eicbenbacli. 
Dated  1475. 


All  Eichenbach's  bindings  are  still 
thoroughly  strong  and  good,  and 
the    small    touch    of    colour    upon 

them  redeems  them  from  the  monotony  of  colour  which  is 
so  marked  in  the  later  German  bindings  in  white  pig  skin. 

German  blind  tooled  bindings  are  very  numerous,  as  the 
art  was  always  much  liked  by  German  binders,  and  whereas 
both  in  England  and  in  France  blind  tooling  and  stamping 
quickly  gave  way  before  the  more  beautiful  and  popular 
art  of  gold  tooling,  in  Germany  the  quieter  blind  work  has 
retained  its  supremacy.  German  binders  never  took  kindly 
to  gold  tooling,  and  when  they  had  to  do  it  they  generally 


'>()0    THE  BOOIv:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 


used  bad  metal.    Most  early  German  gold  tooled  work  is 
now  badly  discoloured  for  this  reason. 

German  bindings  in  calf  are  usually  designed  with  a 
central  panel  crossed  by  diagonals  at  considerable  intervals, 
and  in  the  diamonds  thus  formed  are  impressions  of  various 
stamps.  On  white  pig  skin,  however,  are  to  be  found  the 
most  characteristic  of  the  German  blind  tooled  works.  We 
find  large  books  elaborately  ornamented  with  impressions 
of  finely  cut  "cameo"  rolls,  and 
having  a  centre  panel  stamp  showing 
the  portrait  of  some  notable  person, 
or  a  coat-of-arms.  The  rolls  are 
worthy  of  much  attention,  as  they 
are  very  carefully  designed  and 
beautifully  cut.  They  show  an  in- 
finite variety  of  designs,  and  may 
be  roughly  divided  into  two  classes, 
namely,  those  show^ing  human  figures, 
busts  in  profile,  and  those  only  bear- 
ing floral  or  arabesque  designs. 
Among  the  former  there  is  a  long 
series  of  allegorical  figures,  all  with 
their  respective  emblems,  and  often  lettered  and  dated. 
There  are  Faith,  Hope  and  Charity ;  Sweetness,  Prudence, 
Justice  ;  figures  of  the  Evangelists,  Christ,  David,  St.  Paul, 
Lucretia,  and  heads  of  the  reformers,  Luther,  Melancthon 
and  Hus  particularly. 

Some  of  the  German  panel  stamps  are  very  large,  also 
numerous  and  finely  cut.  There  are  splendidly  executed 
stamps  of  Charles  Y.  and  other  distinguished  personages, 
emperors  and  grand  dukes,  Kudolf  and  many  others,  and 


■m^MD^m^ 


Fig.  99.  —  German 
stamped  leather  bind- 
ing with,  portrait  of 
Charles  V.  Dated  1570. 


OR^UMEKTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD.  201 

others  of  Luther  and  Melancthon.  Some  of  these  are  set 
in  an  arabesque  framing  with  a  space  left  in  the  middle 
for  an  insertion.  These  are  found  impressed  on  calf  and 
on  pig  skin,  and  the  dies  of  many  of  them  are  most 
beautifully  cut. 

Several  of  the  later  calf  bindings,  done  in  the  eighteenth 
and  nineteenth  century,  show  an  infinite  variety  of 
marblings,  sprinklings  and  "  tree  "  patternings,  done  with 
one  or  other  of  the  most  appropriate  chemicals — potash, 
soda,  oxalic  acid — run  on  when  the  leather  is  wet.  But 
one  and  all  of  these  rot  away  the  surface  wherever  they 
touch  it,  and  many  of  these  books  can  now  be  found  from 
which  the  original  dyed  spots  have  all  entirely  disappeared, 
leaving,  however,  a  little  eaten-out  depression  in  every  case. 

James  Edwards,  of  Halifax,  invented  a  style  of  ornament- 
ing calf  by  means  of  ordinary  book  stamps  loaded  with 
acid.  The  result  is  not  unpleasing,  and  such  books  are 
known  as  "  Etruscan,"  because  many  of  the  designs  are  of 
classical  feeling — little  urns,  the  Greek  fret  and  the  like. 
But  Edwards'  little  acid  burnt  designs  are  only  used  as 
accessories  ;  there  is  plenty  of  gold  work  and  ordinary  blind 
work  upon  them  as  well. 

John  Whitaker,  another  eighteenth  century  binder,  went 
a  step  further,  and  drew  designs  upon  his  calf  bindings 
with  pen  or  brush.  Some  of  these  are  very  effective,  but 
as  a  rule  they  are  now  showing  the  effects  of  time,  the 
original  darkest  places,  where  the  acid  has  been  most  freely 
applied,  suffering  first,  and  showing  the  pale  calf  underneath. 
But  a  fine  specimen  of  Whitaker's  work  is  much  to  be 
prized.  He  also  used  the  "  Etruscan "  style.  He  had 
many    imitators,    but    whereas    Whitaker's    bindings    are 


202     TTIE   BOOK:   TTR   TTISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

generally  ornamented  with  figure  drawings,  the  imitators 
as  a  rule  preferred  easier  subjects — ruins  or  landscapes. 

Calf  with  the  rough  side  outwards,  like  brown  velvet,  was 
used  in  England  from  the  seventeenth  to  the  nineteenth 
century,  sometimes  tooled  in  blind  and  sometimes  in  gold. 

Vellum  was  used  at  Little  Gidding.  One  such  book  is 
covered  in  vellum  painted  orange  colour  and  overlaid  with 
openwork  designs  cut  in  white  vellum.  It  is  a  harmony  of 
the  Gospels.  The  centre  design  is  circular,  and  the  corners 
have  quarter  circles.  They  are  all  helped  with  a  little  gold 
tooling. 

In  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  several  small 
French  and  Dutch  books  were  prettily  ornamented  with 
vellum  cut  in  openwork  patterns.  Underneath  the  open 
places  bits  of  coloured  silk  are  laid.  They  are  dainty  but 
not  very  successful,  as  small  edges  and  points  of  the  vellum 
are  apt  to  curl  up  and  catch. 

James  Edwards,  of  Halifax,  invented  a  curious  way  of 
making  vellum  transparent,  and  patented  it  in  1785.  The 
vellum  had  to  be  soaked  in  pearlash  and  subjected  to 
various  processes,  pressure  among  them,  and  cut  very  thin 
indeed,  so  as  to  be  more  like  goldbeater's  skin  than  any- 
thing else.  Then  the  books  were  covered  with  fine  white 
paper  and  painted,  generally  in  monotone,  but  sometimes 
in  colour,  and  over  this  painting  the  transparent  vellum 
was  skilfully  fixed.  The  result  is  that,  except  when  the 
thin  vellum  is  cracked  or  seen  through,  the  painting 
underneath  is  as  fresh  as  ever  it  was ;  but  it  is  to  be 
presumed  that  there  is  not  much  wearing  strength  in 
Edwards'  vellum,  chiefly  because  of  its  extreme  thinness. 
But  as  a   rule  any  fine  examples  of  his  work,  especially 


OENAMENTATION  WITHOUT  GOLD.  203 

as  they  look  dainty  and  precious,  have  always  been  well 
kept  and  highly  valued,  and  are  in  good  and  clean  con- 
dition. Some  modern  binders  have  essayed  Edwards'  plan 
with  a  certain  measure  of  success. 

Impressions  of  designs  in  low  relief  were  made  on  thin 
leather  bindings  by  means  of  engraved  cylinders  in  the 
earlier  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  They  were  chiefly 
used  in  the  small  and  beautifully  illustrated  periodicals 
which  were  so  popular  in  England — The  Age,  Friendship's 
Offering,  and  many  more — issued  during  the  earlier  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century  and  a  little  after  it.  Charming 
designs  in  cameo  are  often  found  in  these  cases,  on  paste- 
boards covered  with  thin  leather,  but  they  are  nearly  always 
rubbed  badly  in  projecting  places.  Some  of  the  best  of 
these  designs  are  by  Remnant  and  Edmonds,  Smith  Elder 
&  Co.,  and  De  La  Rue  &  Co. 


BOOKS  TO   CONSULT. 

Bagford's  Notes  on  Bookbinding.  (^Bibliographical  Soc.  Pro- 
ceedings, Nov.  16,  1903.) 

BiCKELL,  L. — Buchereinbande  des  XV.  bis,  XVIII.  Jahrhuuderts 
aus  bessischen  Bibliotbekeu.     Leipzitj,  1892. 

BOTJCHOT,  H. — Les  reluires  d'Art  il  la  Bibliotbeque  Natiouale. 
Paris,   1888. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Cantor  Lectui-es  on  Decorative  Bookbinding. 
London,  1898. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Early  London  Bookbindings.  Londun.  {The 
Queen,  1891.) 

Duff,  E.  G. — Early  Stamped  Bindings.  (Prideaux,  S.  T.)  London, 
1893. 

Gibson,  S. — Early  Oxford  Bindings.     London,  1903. 

Gibson,  S. — Some  Notable  Bodleian  Bindings.     Oxford,  1901-4. 

Gray,  G.  J. — The  Earlier  Cambridge  Bookbinders.     London,  1904. 


204    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY   A.ND   DEVELOPMENT 

Gray,  G.  J.— A  Note  upon  Early  Cambridge  Binders  of  the 
Sixteenth  Century.      Oamhridijc,  1900. 

Grolier  Club,  New  York. — Catalogue  of  Decorated  Early 
p]nglish  Bookbindings  exhibited  .  .  .  1899,     New  York,   1899.  •• 

Lindsay,  J.  L.  (Earl  of  Crawford). — Early  Bindings  Exhibited  at 
the  Society  of  Antiquaries.     Loudon,  1886. 

Weale,  W.  H.  J. — Catalogue  of  Bookbindings  ...  in  the  National 
Art  Library,  South  Kensington.     London,  1894. 


CHAPTEE   IX. 

THE    ORNAMENTATION    OF    LEATHER    BOOKBINDINGS    WITH     GOLD. 

Gold  tooling  in  leather  introduced  from  the  East  to  Venice — Early 
Italian  gold  tooled  work — The  spread  of  gold  tooling  in  Europe — 
Modern  work — Gold  tooling  in  leather — Early  Venetian  gold 
tooled  bindings — The  work  of  Thos.  Berthelet,  John  Day,  John 
Gibson,  Mary  Collet,  Samuel  Mearne,  Suckerman,  Eliot  and 
Chapman,  Roger  Payne,  Eichard  Wier,  Charles  Hering, 
Kalthoeber,  Staggemeier,  "Walther,  Charles  Lewis,  T.  J.  Cobden 
Sanderson,  Sir  Edw.  Sullivan,  Douglas  Cockerell,  E.  M.  MacCoU, 
S.  Prideaux,  Adams,  Etienne  Eoffet,  Geoffrey  Tory,  Nicholas  and 
Clovis  Eve,  Le  Gascon,  Florimoud  Badier,  Mace  Euette, 
L.  A.  Boyet,  Padeloup  le  Jeune,  J.  Le  Monnier,  Derome  le  Jeune, 
Cape,  Duru,  Thouvenin,  Bauzounet,  Trautz,  Lortic. 

The  art  of  gold  tooling  on  leather  appears  to  have  been 
known  in  Eastern  countries  before  it  was  known  in  the  West. 
There  are  signs  of  it  in  Saracenic  work  of  the  early  fifteenth 
century,  but  it  cannot  be  quite  certain  whether  much  of 
this  work  was  not  simply  painted  with  gold.  If  a  blind 
line  is  carefully  painted  with  gold  shell  and  then  burnished 
with  a  fine  agate,  a  gilded  line  can  be  made  that  looks 
nearly  as  well  as  a  properly  gold  tooled  line.  No  doubt  a 
considerable  proportion  of  early  gold  tooling  was  done  in 
this  way,  and  some  of  it  was  not  even  burnished. 

Some  early  Venetian  bindings  show  gold  spaces  gilded 
with  gold  leaf  in  a  very  effective  way,  and  in  the  Bodleian 
some  English  panel  stamps  of  the  early  sixteenth  century 
are  gilded  all  over. 


206    THE   BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


There  is  little  doubt  that  gold  tooling,  done  as  it  is  now, 
was  known  to  the  Venetians  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  It  is  a  curious  art,  and  depends  for  its  wonderful 
strength  upon  the  fact  that  albumen  hardens  with  heat. 
The  method  used  is  simple :  a  stamp  is  impressed  in  blind 

on  the  leather,  and  then 
the  impression  is  painted 
over  with  glaire  of  egg — 
albumen.  When  the  albu- 
men is  dry  it  is  again 
painted  over  with  palm  oil 
or  cocoa-nut  oil,  and  on 
this  a  piece  of  gold  leaf  is 
laid.  The  stamp  is  now 
heated,  and  when  it  is  of 
the  proper  temperature  it 
is  very  carefully  reim- 
pressed  in  exactly  the 
same  place  as  at  first. 

The  heat  of  the  stamp 
congeals  the  albumen 
under  the  gold,  and  the  now 
gilded  impression  is  likely 
enough  to  be  the  strongest 
part  of  the  leather.  I  have 
often  found  old  leather  bindings  badly  worn  away,  but  the 
gold  tooled  work  and  lettering  still  remaining  in  places. 
Thus,  instead  of  being  hiipressed,  as  it  originally  was,  it  is 
all  in  relief,  because  the  albumen  has  soaked  into  the  leather 
a  little  and  then  been  hardened,  so  that  instead  of  gilded 
hollows  we  find  little  mountains  with  golden  toj)s. 


Fig.  100.— Italian  gold  tooled  bind- 
ing, 1514. 


OENAMENTATION  WITH   GOLD.  207 

But  to  counterbalance  this  possible  advantage,  the 
albumen  presents  a  weak  point.  On  an  old  gold  tooled 
binding  it  is  not  uncommon  to  find  that  a  golden  curve  is 
parti}'  gone ;  half  of  it  perhaps  shows  no  longer  as  a 
thin  gold  line,  but  only  as  a  shallow  trench,  hollowed 
out  of  the  leather.  The  meaning  of  this  is  that  the 
albumen  provides  a  nourishing  meal  for  some  small  grub, 
which,  once  it  gets  the  trail,  will  follow  it,  if  not  disturbed 
half  over  the  book,  and  with  wonderful  accuracy  will  eat 
aw^ay  gold,  albumen,  and  a  little  leather,  following  curves, 
leaves,  and  letterings  with  close  fidelity. 

This  particular  damage  is  most  liable  to  occur  in  instances 
where  books  are  laid  down  in  show  cases  on  cloth  or  velvet 
and  not  often  moved.  The  soft  groundwork  allows  the 
grub  more  freedom  than  if  the  book  is  standing  up  closely 
packed  with  others  on  a  shelf. 

The  small  gilt  roundels  found  on  early  Persian  and  Arabic 
))indings  as  well  as  on  early  Venetian  work,  were  set  with 
some  sort  of  gesso  under  the  gold. 

The  trade  of  Venice  with  the  East  brought  these  matters 
of  ornamented  leather  to  the  notice  of  Venetian  bookbinders, 
and  these,  men  of  consummate  taste,  at  once  saw  the 
possibilities  of  the  new  art.  Indeed,  the  Italian  gold  tooled 
bindings  of  the  late  fourteenth  century  are  the  finest  that 
have  ever  yet  been  made,  even  though  many  of  them  are 
quite  Oriental  in  feeling  and  others  very  strongly  so.  But 
the  Venetians  soon  crept  away  from  the  Eastern  trammels 
and  evolved  beautiful  styles  of  their  own.  One  of  the 
first  of  these  styles  was  the  careful  mingling  of  blind 
tooled  lines  with  gilded  lines  ;  another  was  the  use  of 
small   gilded  roundels — themselves   an    Oriental   idea — in 


•208     TIIK   BOOK:   ITS   lUS'KjRY   ANJJ   DEVELOPMENT. 

connection  with  blind  tooling  and  blind  tooling  coloured 
by  hand. 

Then  at  an  early  date  the  Italians  hit  upon  the  effective 
use  of  so-called  "  cameo  "  stamps.  These  were  sometimes 
cut  on  a  fiat  piece  of  metal,  as  the  "  Canevari "  stamps  are, 


^V^ 


Fig.  101. — Cameo  stamp  of  Apollo  and  Pegasus  found  on  binding  that 
belonged  to  D.  Canevari.     Italian,  sixteenth  century. 


and  sometimes  on  a  bossed  piece  of  metal,  as  the  Alexander 
and  Caesar  are.  When  on  the  binding  these  stamps  show 
as  a  depression  with  the  design  in  relief  within  it. 

Many  of  the  smaller  stamps  of  this  period  are  worthy  of 
notice.  There  is  the  "  Arabic  "  knot,  used  on  Aldine 
binding  and  derived  from  an  Oriental  original  from  basket 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD. 


209 


work,  as  many  of  the  early  stamps  are,  the  Florentine  leaf 
and  the  Aldine  dolphin. 

Then  there  is  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  finest  of  the 
bindings  made  for  Jean  Grolier  were  Italian.  Who  designed 
them  and  who  bound 
them  we  do  not  know, 
but  among  the  earlier 
examples  there  is  no 
doubt  that  splendid  work 
can  be  found.  They  may 
have  been  done  in  the 
workshop  of  Aldus 
Manutius,  but  it  rather 
seems  that  the  designs 
were  made  by  one  man, 
and  I  think  it  is  not 
unlikely  that  Grolier 
himself  may  have  always 
given  the  general  idea 
of  the  decoration  he 
wanted. 

The  later  bindings 
made  for  Grolier  are 
curiously  inferior,  and 
sometimes  in  calf.  The 
earlier  and  finer  bind- 
ings are  in  morocco,  which  is  sometimes  marbled.  The 
words  "  Grolierii  et  Amicorum  "  are  always  put  upon  such 
bindings  as  were  made  for  him,  and  the  legend  "  Portio 
MEA  DOJiiNE  SIT  IN  TERRA  viVENTiUM "  also  generally 
appears  in  tlie  centre  of  one  or  other  of  the  boards. 

T.B.  p 


Fig.  102. — Italian  gold  tooled  binding 
made  for  Jean  Grolier. 


210    THE  BOOK:   ITS  IIISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

Whenever  Grolier  acquired  a  book  which  was   ah'eady 
very  finely  hound  he  added  his  autograph  either  on  the 


EiG.   103. — Italian  gold  tooled  binding  made  for 
Jean  Grolier,  1532. 


flyleaf  at  the  beginning  or  at  the  end.  Grolier  was  the  first 
collector  to  have  his  books  bound  in  a  particular  way  for 
himself. 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD. 


211 


"  Grolier "  bindings  have  been  very  freely  imitated, 
especially  by  a  native  of  Bologna,  who  worked  a  good  deal 
for  Count  Guglielmo  Libri,  a  great  collector,  and  un- 
fortunately  the  st3'le   lends   itself    well    to  imitation.      A 


Fig.  104. — English  gold  tooled  binding  by  Thos. 
Beithelet.     Made  for  Henry  VIII. 

fraudulent  finisher  looks  out  for  an  old  Italian  book  of  the 
right  date,  bound  in  plain  leather.  Then  he  copies  parts 
from  one  or  other  of  the  many  Groliers  which  can  be  seen 
and  studied  by  any  Londoner  or  Parisian  for  the  asking, 
and  if  he  is  fairly  clever  at  his  trade  it  will  take  a  very 
skilled  expert  to  detect  the  fraud.     Many  such  imitations 


•J 1 2     Til  10   lU)OIv:   ITS    HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Fig.   105.— English  binding  by  Thos.    Bertbelet,   1552. 
Made  for  Edward  VI. 

are  about,  and  every  day  they  become  more  like  genuine 
examples. 

The  styles  of  binding  that  have  been  most  largely  and 
successfully  imitated  are  those  made  for  Jean  Grolier, 
Henri  11.  and  of  his  period,  and  the  so-called  "  Canevari " 
bindings. 


OENAMENTATION   WITH   GOLD.  213 

From  Italy  the  art  of  gold  tooling  rapidly  spread  through 
Europe,  and  took  hold  particularly  in  England  and  France. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  an  Italian  gilder  came  to  England 
and  taught  Thomas  Berthelet,  binder  and  printer  to 
Henry  VIII.  Not  only  are  numbers  of  Berthelet's  stamps 
of  distinctly  Italian  character,  but  in  many  of  his  lists  of 
books  he  describes  j)articular  examples  as  being  bound 
"  after  the  Italian  fascion."  But  Berthelet  quickly  enough 
evolved  a  style  of  his  own.  It  appears  to  me  that  English 
binders  have  from  the  time  of  Berthelet  until  now 
succeeded  better  than  those  of  any  other  nation  in  the 
ornamentation  of  large  books.  In  small  books  the  palm 
must  be  given  to  Italian  and  French  binders,  but  large 
books  have  always  puzzled  the  best  of  these,  and  even 
Le  Gascon  has  not  been  successful  with  them. 

Many  of  the  large  books  bound  by  Thomas  Berthelet  are 
as  fine  as  any  such  books  can  be.  His  best  work  was, 
naturally  enough,  done  for  royalty,  but  he  set  the  fashion 
for  smaller  binders,  and  although  there  is  a  want  of  minute 
finish  and  technical  accuracy  in  everything  he  did, 
Berthelet's  fine  work  will  always  give  him  a  place  in  the 
first  rank  of  bookbinders  of  tliis  or  any  other  country. 

After  Berthelet's  time  gold  tooling  became  general  in 
England,  but  the  binders  who  used  it  are  anonymous. 
There  are  some  fine  calf  bindings  with  inlays  of  white 
leather  which  were  made  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth, 
on  which  appear  the  initials  I.  D.  P.,  perhaps  "John  Day 
Pegit,"  and  which  are  credited  to  John  Day,  but  it  is  by  no 
means  certain  that  they  were  done  by  that  eminent  printer. 
The  style  of  leather  bindings  of  Elizabeth's  reign  departed 
finally  from  that  of  Berthelet,  and  more  variety  is  found 


2H     TUK   1500K:    ITS    llISTOl^Y   AXD   DKVKLOPMENT. 

than  at  any  olher  i)eriod.  The  Oriental  fashion  of  double 
boards  was  re-introduced,  the  centre  panels  being  filled 
with  delicate  paintings,  portraits  or  coat-of-arms,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  boards  variously  ornamented  with  inlays 


Fig.  106. — Englisli  inlaid  and  gold  tooled  binding 
by  John  Day.     Made  for  Queen  Elizabeth. 

of  white  leather,  toolings  in  gold  and  silver,  and  impressions 
from  stamps  cut  in  arabesques.  Some  of  these  bindings  are 
coloured,  that  is  to  say,  the  arabesques,  curves  or  flowers 
are  painted  by  hand  with  some  kind  of  enamel  paint.  The 
main  source  of  such  coloured  bindings  was  Lj^ons,  from 
which  centre  numbers  of  them  were  issued,  but  the  fashion 


r 


ORNAMENTATION   WITH   GOLD. 


215 


was  one  which  appealed  to  the  EngHsh  hking  for  colour, 
and  many  fine  examples,  often  heraldic,  were  made  here. 
In  royal  bindings  at  all  times  heraldry  has  played  an 
important   part,    but  from    the   middle    of    the    sixteenth 


Fig.  10". — Italian  inlaid  and  gold  tooled  binding 
in  Oriental  style.     Made  for  Queen  Elizabeth. 


century  onwards  it  plays  an  equally   important   part   on 
bindings  made  for  ordinary  armigerous  people. 

Letterings  often  appear  on  the  sides  of  bindings  of  the 
Tudor  period,  mottoes,  initials  and  names.  Towards  the 
end  of  the  sixteenth  century  a  few  bindings  are  found  on 
which  are  semis  of  triple  dots.  This  is  the  beginning  of 
the  style   which  reached   its    ultimate   form    in    the   next 


216     THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

century.  Also  small  triangular  corner  stamps  occur  now 
and  then.  These  also  developed  and  eventually  became 
one  of  the  most  characteristic  marks  of  Jacobean  bindings. 
When  James  VI.  of  Scotland  came  here  as  our  James  I. 
he  may  have  brought  with  him  John  Gibson,  who  was  his 
binder  in  Scotland.  Lists  of  books  bound  by  this  binder 
still  exist,  but  no  book  or  binding  mentioned  by  him  has  so 


Fig.  ]  08.— The  book  stamp 
of  Eobert  Dudley,  Earl  of 
Leicester. 


Fig. 


109.— The  book  stamp  of 
Lord  Biu'leio-h. 


far  been  identified.  But  there  are  some  remarkable  books 
among  those  which  were  certainly  bound  for  James  I. 
which  are  not  like  the  general  type  of  his  bindings,  and  it 
is  likely  enough  that  these  may  be  Gibson's  work.  The 
style  is  a  very  fine  one,  and  the  workmanship  strong  and 
good,  but  not,  in  my  opinion,  correct  enough  to  have  been 
done  by  a  foreign  binder.  The  same  binder  did  some  of 
the  re-binding  for  Henry  Prince  of  Wales,  and  one  of  its 
characteristics  is  a  dotted  fillet  of  double  lines. 


ORNAMENTATION  WITH   GOLD. 


217 


It  is  probable  that  many  of  the  richer  bindings  of  the  early 
seventeenth  century  were  the  work  of  John  and  Abraham 
Bateman,  the  king's  printers  and  binders,  but,  in  spite  of 
lists,  this  is  again  only  speculation.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  about  this  time  many  bindings  were  made  which 
would   now   be   called  trade   bindings   as   apart   from  art 


Fig.  no.— English  binding  by 
Thos.  Berthelet,  1537,  with, 
the  title  on  the  sides. 


Fig.  111. — English  Jacobean  corner 
stamp. 


bindings.  Trade  bindings  often  enough  follow  art  bindings 
at  a  respectable  distance,  and  they  are  rarely  made  on 
original  lines. 

Following  the  lead  given  by  some  of  the  later  Elizabethan 
bindings,  we  find  from  about  1603  to  1625  a  considerable 
output  of  very  showy  bindings,  with  elaborate  semis  or 
powderings  of  small  stamps  all  over  the  groundwork,  very 


218    THE   BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

large  and  over-elaborated  corner  stamps  and  centres  of 
arabesque  or  heraldic  motives. 

Students  of  English  royal  bindings  must  note  that  with 
the  coming  of  James  I.  to  the  English  throne,  a  great 
change  was  made  in  the  English  coat-of-arms.  The  coat 
which  had  been  used  from  the  time  of  Edward  IIL,  namely, 
France  and  England  quarterly,  was  now  used  as  a  quarter- 
ing only,  and  shows  in  the  first  and  fourth  quarters.  In 
the  second  quarter  we  find  the  ancient  coat  of  Scotland,  or, 
a  lion  rampant  within  a  double  tressure  flory  counterfiory 
gu.,  and  in  the  third  quarter  comes  the  coat  of  Ireland,  az., 
the  harp  of  Apollo  Grian,  stringed  ar,  or.,  given,  it  is  sup- 
posed, by  Henry  VIII.  as  a  mark  of  admiration  for  the 
musical  excellence  of  the  Irish. 

Also  the  late  Tudor  supporters  of  the  lion  and  dragon 
give  place  to  the  familiar  lion  and  unicorn.  The  unicorn 
is  one  of  the  ancient  supporters  of  the  Scottish  coat.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  in  passing  that  the  present  official  coat 
of  Scotland  is,  first  and  fourth  Scotland,  second  England, 
and  third  Ireland,  with  two  unicorns  as  supporters.  It 
appears  on  Scottish  official  bindings.  The  interpretation 
of  this  is  of  course  that  England  and  Ireland  are  appanages 
of  Scotland. 

But  even  if  it  is  now  correct  to  dissociate  the  arms  of 
England  and  Scotland,  we  must  not  forget  the  heraldic 
marriage  between  the  two  countries  which  took  place  in 
1706,  on  which  auspicious  occasion  the  two  coats  were 
impaled  as  one.  That  is  to  say,  they  \Yere  treated  in  the 
same  way  as  the  coats  of  married  people. 

The  semis,  with  large  corners,  is  a  manner  which  has  lasted 
a  long  time,  but  it  is  not  a  great  style  ;  it  is,  however,  one 


OBXAMEXTATIOX   AVITH   GOLD. 


219 


Nvhich  has  been  largely  followed  in  the  case  of  trade  bindings. 
In  this  manner  a  very  rich  and  brilliant  effect  can  be  pro- 
duced with  a  minimum  of  real  design  and  of  technical  skill. 


Fig.  112.  —English  gold-tooled  binding  made 
for  James  I. 


The  centres  of  such  bindings,  if  not  simply  coats-of-arms, 
are  always  of  oval  outline,  but  at  Little  Gidding  the  irregular 
Jacobean  corners  and  oval  centres  turned  into  circular 
centres  and  quarter-circle  corners.  The  gold  tooled  leather 
bindings  made  at  Little  Gidding  followed  closely  in  detail 


220    THE   BOOK:    ITS    HISTORY   AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

those  made  by  Thomas  and  John  Buck,  the  Cambridge 
University  printers,  but  in  the  main  the  bindings  made 
by  Mary  Collet  and  her  assistants  were  original.  In  the 
matter  of  semis  also  the  Little  Gidding  bindings  show  a 


Fig.  113. — English  inlaid  and  gold  tooled  binding 
made  by  Marj'  Collet  at  Little  Gidding. 


pleasant  departure   from  the  quite  regular  arrangements 
aimed  at  by  Jacobean  binders. 

After  1625  the  series  and  corners  tended  gradually  to  fall 
into  abeyance,  and  although  they  did  not  altogether  dis- 
appear, they  were  each  modified.      Corner  pieces  became 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD 


221 


smaller  in  proportion,   and    the    semis    more    artistically 
irregular. 

To^Yards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  some  unknown 
binder,  probably  Samuel  Mearne,  had  the  hardihood  for 
the  first  time  to  bind  royal  books  without  any  ornamenta- 
tion on  the  boards  except  a  coat-of-arms.  The  red  leather, 
goat  skin,  used  on  these  bindings  is  of  extremely  fine  colour 
and  quality.  Simplicity  in  orna- 
mentation of  bookbindings  is 
usually  accompanied  by  fine  leather, 
and  at  no  time  has  this  been 
more  noticeable  than  in  the  case  of 
Mearne's  simpler  work. 

The  political  troubles  of  the  later 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century  may 
of  themselves  have  tended  to  incline 
bookbinders  to  simplify  their  work, 
and  so  also  may  the  Puritan  spirit 
of  the  time.  State  bindings  of  the 
time  are  studiously  simple,  and  bear 
upon    them  a  device  with    shields, 

showing  the  English  cross  of  St.  George  and  the  harp  of 
Ireland  side  by  side,  impressed  upon  black  leather. 

But  there  were  other  very  decorative  small  bindings 
being  produced  in  considerable  numbers  about  this  period. 
Whether  these  also  owed  their  existence  to  Samuel  Mearne 
is  still  uncertain,  but  he  was,  I  expect,  a  moving  spirit  in 
the  matter  of  fine  bookbindings  from  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Charles  I.  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  Charles  11.  The 
little  books  I  allude  to  were  made  during  the  latter  half  of 
the   seventeenth  century  and   are  always  bound  in  black 


Fig.  114. — Book  stamp  of 
the  English  Common- 
wealth. 


222     THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTORY  AND   D]*]VELOPMENT. 

morocco.  They  liave  inlays  of  red,  yellow,  and  white 
leather  upon  them  and  some  very  well  designed  gold  tooling. 
Many  of  the  designs  are  in  detail  similar  to  those  which 
were  certainly  used  at  a  later  time  by  Samuel  Mearne.  John 
Bagford,  in  a  curious  account  of  book  binding  written  early 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  mentions  a  workman  named 
Suckerman,  who  was  "  one  of  the  best  workmen  that  ever 
took  tool  in  hand,  and  commonly  worked  for  Mr.  Merne 
the  Binder  to  King  Charles  the  2." 

It  is  quite  possible  that  much  of  the  finest  English  work 
of  this  period  was  done  by  this  man,  but  I  expect  he  was 
only  a  workman,  and  executed  the  designs  made  out  for 
him  by  a  skilled  designer  —  possibly  enough  Mearne 
himself. 

Samuel  Mearne  was  appointed  royal  binder  to  Charles  II., 
and  he  was  the  second  great  binder  in  England.  Mearne 
bound  the  majority  of  his  books  in  the  same  beautiful  red 
leather  that  I  have  already  mentioned  as  being  used  for 
some  late  bindings  belonging  to  Charles  I.,  and  the  same 
coat-of-arms  occurs  on  some  of  those  bound  for  Charles  II. 
This  red  leather  was  probably  dyed  with  cochineal.  Before 
this  no  red  leather  was  used  to  any  extent  in  England. 
Brown,  olive,  blue,  and  black  were  all  common,  but  not 
red.  The  ordinary  bindings  made  by  Mearne  for  Charles  II. 
were  simply  and  tastefully  ornamented  with  rectangular 
lines  having  the  royal  initials  at  the  corners,  but  others  are 
more  elaborate. 

We  owe  a  national  design  to  Mearne's  inventive  genius, 
and  it  is  known  as  the  "  Cottage  "  style.  The  gold-lined 
parallelogram  is  the  starting  point,  and  the  upper  and  lower 
lines  are   broken  outwards  into  a  gable  form.     From  this 


ORNAMEXTATIOX  WITH  GOLD. 


223 


starting  point  Mearne  developed  his  further  decoration  with 

supreme  success,  until  indeed  he  succeeded  in  producing 

some  of  the  finest  bindings  for  large  books  that  have  ever 

been  made.     Not  only  that,  Mearne's  style  and  even  the 

details  of  his  stamps  continue  until  the  present  time,  and 

the  Bible  on  which 

King   Edward  YII. 

took  the  coronation 

oath  was  bound  in 

the    Cottage    style. 

No  style   has    ever 

lasted  so  long,  not 

only    in    England, 

but    in    any    other 

country. 

There  was  yet 
another  beautiful 
style  invented  by 
Mearne.  It  is  not 
so  real  a  design  as 
the  Cottage,  as  it 
partakes  to  some 
extent  of  the  j)rin- 
ciple  of  the  semis, 
inasmuch  as  sym- 
metrical repetition  is  an  integral  part  of  it.  There  is 
no  doubt  that  Mearne  saw  and  admired  the  work  of  the 
great  French  contemporary  binder  Le  Gascon,  and  from 
him  he  borrowed  several  ideas,  among  them  that  of  the 
pointille  or  dotted  stamps,  and  also  that  of  the  interlacing 
fillets  with  interstitial  spaces  filled  with  small  gold  tooling. 


Fig.  llo. — English  gold  tooled  "Eectangu- 
lar"  style  binding,  by  Samuel  Mearne. 
Made  for  Charles  II. 


Fig.  116. — English  gold  tooled  binding  by  K^amuel  Mearue.     Made 
for  Charles  II. 


ORNAMENTATION   WITH   GOLD. 


225 


The  radical  change  that  Mearne  made  with  regard  to  Le 
Gascon's  interlacing  fillets  was  that  he  made  them  up  by 
using  successive  im- 
pressions of  a  two- 
horned  curve  instead 
of  a  continuous  fillet 
or  ribbon.  Although 
at  first  sight  there 
would  seem  to  be  no 
connection  between 
one  of  these  "  all 
over "  bindings  by 
Mearne  and  one  of 
Le  Gascon's  exquisite 
little  interlacings,  I 
think  the  connection 
is  undoubted. 

The  all-over  bind- 
ings, always  small, 
are  not  uncommon  ; 
they  are  in  black  or 
red  morocco,  with 


colours  interchanged,   -^^^   in.- English  o-old-tooled  binding  in 
and  are  tooled  in  gold,         "  all-over  "  style,  by  Samuel  Mearne. 
with  the  very  decora- 
tive addition  of  silver  paint,  water-colour,  applied  by  hand 
here  and  there. 

Eliot  and  Chapman  did  much  excellent  work  in  the 
eighteenth  century  and  invented  large  ornamental  borders 
for  their  bindings.  These  borders  are  not  rolls,  but  the  com- 
ponent parts  are  separately  stamped.    There  is  an  excellent 

T.B.  Q 


220    THE   BOOK:    ITS  IITSTOET  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


Fig.  118. — English  gold  tooled  binding  show- 
in  g:  the  influence  of  Samuel  Mearne. 


design  with  arches,  a  bird  and  a  fly,  and  another  with  a 
globe,  but  all  of  them  are  admirably  and  effectively  designed. 
Except  the  work  of  Eliot  and  Chapman,  the  main  English 
ornamentations  on  bookbindings  during  the  eighteenth 
century  were  modifications  of  one  or  other  of  Mearne's 
designs. 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD.  227 

Eliot  and  Chapman  bound  largely  for  Robert  Harle}', 
first  Earl  of  Oxford,  and  their  broad  bordered  style  is  known 
as  the  "  Harleian."  The  centres,  in  the  finest  examples, 
are  left  nnornamented,  but  there  are  numbers  of  examples, 
especially  in  later  work,  in  which  the  centres  are  filled  with 
a  diamond-shaped  mass  of  small  gold  toolings.  Their  style 
has  been  very  largely  copied. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  English 
binding  received  a  remarkable  stimulus  by  reason  of  the 


RO^E^a^lfc«HARLEY 


^^ 


Fig.  119. — The  book  stamp  of  Eobert  Harley. 

advent  of  Roger  Payne,  a  native  of  Windsor,  who  set  up 
in  London  as  a  bookbinder  about  1770. 

Payne's  two  predecessors,  Berthelet  and  Mearne,  had  both 
enjoyed  Court  positions,  but  Payne  never  did ;  he  worked 
when  he  chose,  and  only  then,  and  even  if  the  brilliancy 
and  genius  shown  of  his  work  had  ever  been  known  to 
George  III.,  it  is  doubtful  whether  so  unreliable  a  man  as 
Payne  was  could  ever  have  been  allowed  to  hold  any 
responsible  position. 

The  main  charm  of  Payne's  work  consists  in  the  spare 
ornamentation  of  beautiful  leather  with  exquisitely  designed 
and  cut  stamps.  These  stamps  are  said  to  have  been  cut  by 
himself  in  iron,  but  most  of  them  were  certainly  of  brass. 

Q  2 


228    THE   BOOK:   ITS   HISTOEY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 

One  of  Payne's  stamps  only  is  specially  cut  so  as  to  be 
capable  of  being  used  in  combination  ;  it  is  a  little  sprig  of 
vine,  and  he  used  it  not  only  by  itself,  but  sometimes  so  as 


Fig.  120. — Euglish  gold  tooled   binding,  by 
Eoger  Paj^ie. 

to  make  an  entire  vine  oval  on  the  side  of  a  book.  Payne 
was  also  the  first  great  English  binder  to  pay  much  attention 
to  the  inside  of  the  boards  of  his  bindings.  His  "  Doublures," 
as  they  are  called,  often  show  more  elaborate  work  than 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD.  229 

exists  outside  the  books.  The  masses  of  small  stamps  which 
occur  on  the  borders  of  the  fine  doublures  and  in  the 
corners  of  Payne's  bindings  are  arranged  in  parallel  lines, 
but  have  little  constructive  arrangement.  The  brilliancy 
of  Payne's  gold  tooling  has  never  been  exceeded. 

In  his  simpler  bindings  Payne  used  a  deep  soft  purple 
end  paper,  usually  lined  with  gold  round  the  edge.  The 
leather  joint  red  or  green  is  also  often  gilded,  and  shows  a 
stitch  or  two  of  the  silk  thread  which  Payne  always  used. 
The  headbands  are  small  and  rounded,  of  green  silk,  with 
sometimes  a  gold  thread  here  and  there. 

The  colours  of  Payne's  moroccos  are  deep  blue,  deep  red, 
orange,  deep  olive,  or  pale  sea-green.  If  other  colours  are 
found  on  bindings  apparently  by  him,  I  should  begin  by 
suspecting  the  work  is  that  of  Pachard  Wier.  His  Russia 
leathers  are  always  dull  brown  in  colour,  and  diced. 
Payne  lined  his  backs  too  thickly,  and  his  books  often 
open  stififly.  This  is  not  of  much  importance  when  the 
binding  is  morocco,  but  when  Piussia  leather  is  used  it 
causes  it  to  break  at  the  joints.  Some  of  the  designs  in 
the  back  panels  of  Payne's  more  decorative  bindings  are 
quite  admirable.  His  moroccos  are  smooth  or  straight- 
grained,  a  method  of  treating  the  leather  that  he  invented. 
Payne  often  added  a  manuscript  note  to  his  bound  work 
and  pasted  it  in  the  beginning.  Several  of  these  notes  are 
of  great  interest,  as  the}^  show  the  immense  care  and  trouble 
he  took  to  do  the  best  he  could  in  ever}^  case.  They  are 
also  of  the  greatest  value  in  showing  that  certain  pieces  of 
work  are  unquestionably  from  his  own  hand. 

Piichard  Wier,  a  Scottish  bookbinder,  worked  with  Payne, 
and   closely  copied  his   style.     Wier  was  fonder  of  blind 


230    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTOEY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

tooling  than  Payne  was,  and  they  used  the  same  stamps. 
Many  of  the  bindings  credited  to  Eoger  Payne  are  really  by 
Wier,  who,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Wier,  was  a  highly  skilled  mender 
of  books. 

Charles  Hering  founded  his  styles  upon  those  of  Payne, 
but  soon  evolved  a  manner  of  his  own.  He  finished  some 
books  that  Payne  had  left  unfinished  in  the  same  style. 
Originals  and  copies  are  now  in  the  Piylands  Library  at 
Manchester.  Hering's  work  is,  however,  only  high  class 
trade  binding,  as  is  that  of  his  contemporary,  C.  Kalthoeber. 
Both  Hering's  and  Kalthoeber's  work  is  often  signed,  either 
in  small  gilt  or  blind  lettering  along  the  lower  edge  of  one 
of  the  boards,  or  by  an  affixed  ticket. 

Kalthoeber  frankly  copied  Payne's  styles  and  stamps,  but 
elaborated  both  so  much  that  he  quite  lost  sight  of  the 
characteristic  simplicity  of  the  great  master.  Kalthoeber 
bound  several  books  for  George  III.,  and  many  of  them  are 
decorative  enough,  and  if  they  had  not  been  such  parodies 
of  Payne's  work  they  would  no  doubt  have  taken  high 
rank. 

Staggemeier  and  Walther  were  both  Germans,  who  worked 
much  in  the  same  manner  as  Kalthoeber.  They  both  signed 
their  bindings. 

Charles  Lewis  was  very  nearly  a  great  binder,  but  I  do 
not  think  he  quite  reached  that  level.  He  used  flat  double 
bands  with  gold  toohng  upon  them,  but  these  are  frequently 
only  shams,  and  are  in  company  with  hollow  backs.  After 
that  his  best  work  was  borrowed  ;  but  his  bindings  are 
always  pleasant  to  handle  and  admirably  forwarded  and 
finished.  Lewis'  headbands  are  flat  and  upright,  and 
generally   sewn   with    green    silk    or    red    and    green    silk. 


OENAMENTATION  WITS  GOLD.  231 

He  was  fond  of  brilliant  doublures,  sometimes  all  gold, 
sometimes  vellum  edged  with  richly  gilt  morocco,  and  he 
was  also  fond  of  gilded  edges  richly  tooled. 

In  the  nineteenth  centmy  we  have  in  England  produced 
one  binder  who  will  probably  in  due  time  rank  with  the 
highest.  The  work  of  Mr.  T.  J.  Cobden-Sandersou  will  bear 
comparison  with  the  best  work  the  past  can  show,  either  as 
to  general  design  or  beauty  of  detail.  Most  of  the  good  art 
binding  done  now  owes  its  inspiration  to  Mr.  Cobden- 
Sanderson,  and  already  many  of  his  pupils  and  followers 
have  achieved  distinction  for  themselves ;  one  of  the  best 
of  these  is  Mr.  Douglas  Cockerell.  The  rare  work  done  by 
Sir  Edward  Sullivan  will  also  live.  He  is  entirely  original 
in  his  work  and  in  his  manner  of  decoration. 

Lady  bookbinders  in  England  have  also  done  excellent 
and  beautiful  work,  particularly  Miss  E.  M.  MacColl,  Miss 
Sarah  Prideaux,  and  Miss  N.  E.  Woolrich. 

Professional  work  of  high  excellence  has  been  done  in 
recent  years  in  England  by  Messrs.  Bedford,  Piiviere,  Zaehns- 
dorf,  and  Morell.  The  younger  Zaehnsdorf,  G.  Sutcliffe, 
F.  Sangorsky,  Fazakerly  of  Liverpool,  and  A.  De  Santy 
are  all  reliable,  and  may  be  trusted  to  produce  work  not 
only  technically  perfect,  but  also  charmingly  finished  and 
admirably  designed. 

Compared,  however,  to  modern  French  professional  book- 
binding of  the  first  rank,  by  Cape,  Duru,  Lortic,  Bauzonnet, 
and  the  rest,  I  find  that  there  is  a  certain  heaviness  in 
English  forwarding — English  binders  have  always  liked 
heavy  boards  ;  but  I  think  that  in  the  matter  of  gold  tooling 
our  best  modern  finishers  can  hold  their  own  safely. 

Bookbinding  has  been  more  fostered  and  looked  after  in 


'i;J2    THE  BOOK:  ITS  HISTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

France  than  in  any  other  country.  As  early  as  1401  a 
guild  of  all  persons  concerned  in  book  production  was 
founded  by  charter  from  Charles  VI.,  and  continued,  with 
some  changes,  until  1791. 

The  chief  change  in  this  guild  took  place  in  1G86,  when 
the  binding  and  gilding  were  treated  as  separate  arts,  as, 
indeed,  they  properly  are.  From  the  time  of  Francis  I. 
until  about  1633  we  find  that  nearly  all  the  Kings  of  France 
had  official  binders,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  the  best 
French  work  is  to  be  among  their  work,  with  the  exception 
of  that  of  Le  Gascon,  who,  like  our  Eoger  Paj'ne,  was  never 
favoured  with  Court  patronage. 

Heraldry  plays  a  considerable  part  in  English  bookbinding, 
but  not  so  remarkable  a  one  as  it  does  in  French  book- 
binding. From  royal  books  downwards,  persons  of  dis- 
tinction, ecclesiastics  of  all  ranks,  ladies  and  private 
persons,  all  liked  to  have  their  books  ornamented  with 
their  coats-of-arms  as  a  principal  ornament. 

Etienne  Eoffet  was  Eoyal  binder  to  Francis  I.,  but  I  do 
not  feel  sure  that  any  binding  of  his  is  known.  It  may  be, 
however,  considered  likely  that  he  bound  most  of  the  books 
bearing  the  King's  crowned  initials  and  his  device  of  a 
salamander. 

Several  of  Jean  Grolier's  books  were  bound  by  French 
workmen.  These  are  in  the  main  designed  on  similar  lines 
to  those  bound  by  Italians,  but  there  is  a  difference  in  the 
details  of  the  stamps  used.  One  constant  difference  may 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  on  the  Italian  books  the  small 
leaves  and  devices  are  solid,  and  on  the  French  ones  they 
are  azured,  or  scored  across  with  fine  lines.  Some  of  the 
French  bound  books  have  colour  added  on  the  fillets. 


OENAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD. 


2'6-c 


Geoffrey  Tory  lived  well  into  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
among  other  artistic  productions  he  designed  a  special 
stamp  for  gilding  his  bindings  with.  Tory  lost  his  only 
little  daughter,  and 
afterwards  adopted  as 
his  device  a  broken 
vase,  symbolic  of  his 
broken  life.  This  vase 
is  sometimes  pierced 
by  a  "  toret,"  probably 
a  play  upon  his  own 
name,  as  he  describes 
it :  "  ung  vase  antique 
qui  est  casse  par  lequel 
l^asse  ung  toret."  The 
book  stamps  do  not 
sbow  the  toret,  but 
the  vase  is  there.  In 
the  other  ornamenta- 
tion and  on  these  Tory 
bindings    is    a    strong 


ElG.    121. — French    coloiued    and   gold 
tooled  binding,  with  portrait  of  Henri  II. 


Italian  feeling.     It  is 

sure  enough  that   the 

art  of  gold  tooling  reached  France  by  way  of  Venice,  just 

as  it  did  England. 

The  most  gorgeous  j)eriod  of  French  bookbinding  was 
that  of  Henri  II.  and  his  children.  Henri  himself  loved  fine 
bindings,  and  so  did  Catherine  de  Medici,  but  unfortunately 
we  do  not  know  who  executed  them.  They  are  in  calf  or 
morocco,  and  nearly  always  have  coloured  fillets.  Those  which 
were  bound  for  Diane  de  Poictiers,  Duchesse  de  Yalentinois, 


234    THE  BOOK:   ITS  IlfSTORY  AND  DEVELOPMENT. 

are  equally  remarkable,  and  all  of  them  have,  as  a  rule, 
heraldic  ornamentation.  A  fine  portrait  cameo  stamp,  how- 
ever, of  Henri  11.   appears  as  a  centrepiece  on  some  of  his 


Fig.  122. — French  sixteentli  century  binding, 
made  for  Diane  de  Poictiers. 


bindings,  and  the  name  Dianne  appears  on  one  of  Diane's 
now  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale  at  Paris. 

The  cyphers  which  appear  on  all  these  bindings  are  as  a 
rule  straightforward  enough,  being  either  those  of  Henri  or 
his  Queen  Catherine,  but  among  them  is  one  which  con- 
tains the  initials  H.  and  D.  intertwined.     This  may  mean 


OEXA^klEXTATIOX  ^^^TH  GOLU. 


235 


"Henri  Dauphin,"  but  it  is  usually  interpreted  as  meaning 
"Henri"  and  "Diane."  I  do  not  propose  here  to  enter 
into  the  vexed  question  of  this  curious  cypher,  as  it  has 
already  been  fully  discussed  elsewhere,*  but  I  may  say  that 
Henri's  own  device  before  he  succeeded  to  the  throne  was  a 
crescent  with  the  legend  Nec  impleat  totem  orbem.  An 
unstrung  bow  as  well  as  the 
other  emblems  of  Diana 
the  huntress  undoubtedly 
aj)pears  on  bindings  made 
for  this  king.  I  am  rather 
inclined  to  think  that  these 
devices  of  bow,  crescents, 
and  quiver,  which  show  on 
the  bindings  made  for 
Henri  as  well  as  on  those 
made  for  Diane  de  Poic- 
tiers,  may  really  have  been 
separately  chosen,  and 
have  no  necessary  connec- 
tion with  each  other.  On 
the  bindings  made  for 
Diane  de  Poictiers  the  bow 
is  strung. 

Henri  HI.  was  an  eccen- 
tric king,  and  it  has  been  said  that  among  other  arts  he  learnt 
that  of  bookbinding.  He  lost  his  ladylove,  and  ever  after- 
wards grieved  her  loss.  His  bindings  show  the  device  of  the 
confraternity  of  the  White  Monks,  to  which  order  he  belonged, 
and  a  skull  and  "  Spes  jiea  deus."    But  besides  these  gloomy 

*  AiHjhi-Saxoii  Review  and  BarlirKjton  Muijazine,  July,  1907. 


Fig.  123. — French  binding  by  Nicholas 
Eve,  1578.     Made  for  Henri  III. 


1-M)    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY  AND   DEVELOPMENT. 


bindings  we  owe  some  of  the  finest  bindings  ever  made  in 
France  to  the  art  of  Henri's  royal  binder,  Nicholas  Eve. 

The  French  order  of  St.  Michel  was  founded  by  Louis 
XL,  in  1466,  in  place  of  an  older  order  "  De  I'Etoile," 
which  had  been  instituted  by  Jean  IL  Henri  HL,  in  1578, 
founded  a  new  order,  the  Saint  Esprit,  and  among  the 
State  papers  of  the  time  is  a  note  to  the  efl'ect  that  Nicholas 
Eve  bound  forty-two  copies  of  the 
Onloiuiances  de  Vordre  du  Saiiict 
Eaprit  for  the  king.  One  of  these 
books  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
It  is  bound,  as  described  in  the  official 
note,  in  orange  morocco,  and  agrees 
in  all  respects  with  that  description. 
A  remarkable  style,  known  as  "a 
la  Fanfare,"  became  common  in 
France  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
centm-y.  They  are  generally  attri- 
buted to  Clovis  Eve,  who  was  Eelieur 
du  Roy  (159()),  but  there  is  really  no 
authority  for  such  attribution.  The 
style  is  a  beautiful  one,  and  consists 
of  interlaced  fillets  enclosing  grace- 
ful sprays  of  laurel  or  palm,  and  arabesque  curves.  Some 
of  the  finest  examples  were  bound  for  J.  A.  de  Thou,  the 
historian,  and  bear  his  arms,  a  chevron  between  three 
gadflies,  as  a  centre  ornament. 

Most  of  De  Thou's  books  are  bound  in  morocco,  and 
among  those  which  were  made  during  the  life  of  his  second 
wife  Gasparde  de  la  Chastre  are  some  that  are  curiously 
ornamented.       They   are   bound    in    pale   yellow    morocco 


Pig.  124. — French  gold 
tooled  "Fanfare" 
binding.  Made  for 
J.  A.  De  Thou. 


OENAMEXTATION   WITH   GOLD.  237 

which  has  been  stamped  all  over  with  impressions  in  black 
outline,  probably  from  a  wood  block,  in  floral  or  conventional 
designs.  The  designs  have  afterwards  been  filled  in  by 
hand  with  colour  stains,  green,  red  and  blue.  The  leather 
has  been  cut  for  the  binding  without  any  notice  being  taken 
of  the  coloured  designs,  which  consequently  appear 
irregularly  on  the  finished  work.  The  books  are  finished 
with  gold  lines  and  the  arms  of  De  Thou  and  La  Chastre 
side  by  side. 

It  has  been  said  that  De  Thou  chose  certain  colours  for 
certain  subjects,  for  the  bindings  of  his  books,  but  although 
it  may  be  so  in  some  cases  I  do  not  think  it  is  consistently 
carried  out. 

Certain  colours  have  no  doubt  been  chosen  in  some  cases 
as  distinctive  of  ownership,  as  for  instance  in  the  libraries 
of  the  three  daughters  of  Louis  XV.,  all  of  whom  bore  the 
same  coat-of-arms.  The  books  belonging  to  Madame 
Yictoire  were  bound  in  olive,  those  of  Madame  Adelaide  in 
red,  and  those  of  Madame  Sophie  in  citron, 

French  bindings  in  morocco  were  sometimes  stained 
with  colour,  especially  about  the  time  of  Henri  IL,  but 
colour  on  morocco  is  more  generally  added  as  a  pigment. 

In  recent  times  some  very  decorative  Spanish  moroccos 
have  been  curiously  stained  with  a  sort  of  marbling.  Large 
consignments  of  these  coloured  moroccos  have  been 
imported  into  this  country,  and  they  have  been  used 
especially  by  Mr.  Eoger  De  Coverly,  one  of  our  foremost 
bookbinders.  The  morocco  is  not  of  a  very  good  quality, 
and  it  is  too  early  to  say  whether  the  stains  are  harmful 
to  the  leather,  as  they  probably  would  be  if  they  were 
on  calf. 


2;i8    THE   BOOK:   TTS   HISTORY   AND    DEVELOPMENT. 

Colour  as  indicating  subject  is  usually  given  in  the  case 
of  large  libraries  that  do  their  own  binding.  Eed  commonly 
indicates  history  and  art ;  blue,  theology ;  green,  agriculture 
and  botany  ;  and  so  on. 

In  the  early  seventeenth  century  the  mysterious  "  Le 
Gascon"  invented  the  "  pointille  "  or  dotted  style  of  gold 
tooling,  which  has  l)een  more  universally  copied  than  an}^ 
other  small  peculiarity  in  book  finishing. 

Le  Gascon  was  supreme  in  the  binding  of  small  books, 
whether  ornamented  with  interlaced  fillets,  inlaid,  or  with 
the  curious  design  of  a  swollen  cross.  Le  Gascon's  small 
pointille  curves  are  most  cleverly  designed  ;  two  or  three  of 
them  suffice  to  cover  a  considerable  space  with  an  apparently 
complicated  design.  The  glittering  effect  of  the  small 
pontille  work  massed  together  is  heightened  by  the  free 
addition  of  small  golden  dots  wherever  space  can  be  found 
for  them. 

Eed  morocco  was  Le  Gascon's  favourite  groundwork, 
and  on  this  he  frequently  set  inlaj's  of  coloured  morocco, 
citron,  olive  and  marbled  brown.  These  were  mostly  used 
in  the  case  of  bindings  bearing  a  design  of  interlacing 
fillets,  with  gold  tooling  between  them.  No  signed  binding 
by  Le  Gascon  is  as  yet  known,  but  there  are  some  bearing 
the  name  of  Florimond  Badier,  who  was  son-in-law  to  Jean 
Gillede,  which  nearly  resemble  Le  Gascon's  work,  but  lack 
his  exquisite  finish.  On  some  of  these  appears  a  small 
dotted  profile  head,  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  mark  of 
Le  Gascon's.  This  same  head  is  copied  on  some  of  the 
bindings  of  our  English  Samuel  Mearne,  who  must  therefore 
have  seen  and  admired  some  of  Le  Gascon's  or  Badier's 
work.     "  Le  Gascon  "  was  probably  Jean  Gillede. 


French  Seventeenth  Centnrj-  Binding.     Inlaid  and  Gold  Tooled. 
By  Le  Gascon . 

[To  face  p.  238. 


ORNAMENTATION   WITH   GOLD.  239 

Mace  Piuette  followed  many  of  Le  Gascon's  manners,  and 
his  son  Antoine  did  the  same.  These  binders  were  royal 
binders  to  Louis  XIII.  and  Louis  XIY.  respectively,  and 
probably  bound  most  of  the  fine  bindings  made  for  these 
kings,  bearing  their  coats-of-arms. 

The  bindings  made  for  the  Baron  de  Longepierre  are 
not  uncommon.  They  were  probably  bound  by  Luc 
Antoine  Boyet,  royal  binder  to  Louis  XV.  These  little  books 
bear  upon  them  the  device  of  a  golden  fleece,  because  the 
Baron  wrote  plays,  and  the  only  successful  one  was  called 
"  Medea  "  and  dealt  with  the  subject  of  the  Argonauts. 
The  bindings  are  all  exquisitely  finished,  and  of  beautiful 
red  leather ;  they  sometimes  have  finely  decorated  doublures 
and  marbling  under  the  gold  on  the  edges,  a  charming 
detail  which  has  been  much  liked  by  French  binders  ever 
since. 

Padeloup  le  Jeune  was  royal  binder  to  Louis  XV.  after 
Boyet,  and  belonged  to  one  of  the  many  French  families  of 
binders.  Padeloup's  work  is  luckilj-  often  signed  by  means 
of  a  small  ticket  on  the  title  page  or  end  paper.  He 
perfected  the  patterns  known  as  "Dentelles,"  which  had 
been  first  thought  of  by  Boyet.  These  designs  start  from 
the  edges  of  the  boards  inwards,  and  the  inner  edge  is 
deeply  dentated  and  is  supposed  to  resemble  lace.  Padeloup 
used  blue  and  red  morocco,  and  executed  several  small 
bindings  with  inlays  of  coloured  leather  in  geometrical 
designs. 

Padeloup  made  several  large  bindings,  and  his  stamps 
are  often  large  and  boldly  cut,  but  his  successors  gradually 
fined  his  style  down  until  the  original  bold  indented  work 
became  quite  small  and  lace-like  in  itself. 


240    THE   BOOK:    ITS   HISTORY   AXJJ    DEVELOPMENT. 

The  liking  for  inlaid  work  which  was  started  by  Padelonp 
rapidly  grew,  and  it  caused  a  certain  deterioration  in  the 
taste  of  French  binding  because  it  gave  such  scope  for 
minute  technical  skill  that  this  soon  became  more  sought 
after  than  the  power  of  fine  designing.  The  skill  shown 
on  inlaid  bindings  by  Jean  le  Monnier,  for  instance,  is 
astonishing,  but  the  designs  on  all  his  l)in dings  are  weak. 


Fig.  125. — French  inlaid 
and  gold  tooled  binding, 
1718,  by  Padelonp  le 
Jeune. 


Fig.  126.  —  French  gold 
tooled  binding  "  Den  telle 
a  I'oiseau,"  by  Derome  le 
Jeune. 


The  same  may  be  said  of  the  work  of  J.  A.  Derome.  But 
the  work  of  both  these  binders  is  much  sought  after  and 
esteemed  by  many  collectors. 

Derome  le  Jeune  was  the  most  important  French  binder 
of  the  late  eighteenth  century.  He  took  Padeloup's  large 
"  dentelles  "  and  altered  them  so  much  that  he  at  last 
evolved  a  style  of  his  own  from  them.  Derome  drew  the 
whole  design  out  in  a  much  smaller  and  more  delicate  way, 
and  always  put  in  some  bird  figures,  and  these  designs  are 


ORNAMENTATION  WITH  GOLD.  241 

known  as  "  Dentelles  a  I'oiseau."  He  used  citron,  olive 
and  red  morocco.  Derome  has  not  a  good  reputation  as  a 
forwarder ;  he  is  said  to  have  cropped  his  books  badly,  and 
also  to  have  "  sawn  in  "  his  bands  so  as  to  get  flat  or  open 
backs.  Even  so,  he  did  not  invent  "  sawn  in  "  bands,  as 
that  vice  was  practised  in  England  a  hundred  years  before 
Derome's  time,  in  the  case  of  embroidered  books ;  but  the 
fact  of  these  two  mannerisms  having  been  noticed  in  the 
work  of  this  great  binder  only  shows  that  the  same  faults 
were  probably  universally  prevalent  at  the  time. 

Modern  French  work  is  astonishing  for  its  technical  skill. 
The  work  of  Cape,  Duru,  Thouvenin,  Bauzonnet,  Trautz, 
Lortic,  Niedree,  Marius-Michel,  Chambolle,  and  many 
others  is  admirable  from  all  workmanlike  points  of  view. 

But  there  is  no  genius  in  any  of  it ;  a  great  French 
binder  of  this  century  is  yet  to  come. 

Spanish  bindings  are  often  very  handsomely  gold  tooled, 
and  are  usually  ornamented  with  heraldic  designs.  Little 
is  known  at  present  about  them,  but  it  is  certainly  doubtful 
whether  any  great  school  of  gold  tooling  in  bindings  has 
ever  existed  outside  Italy,  England  or  France. 


BOOKS  TO  CONSULT. 

AxGLO-S-^ON  Review.— Lo^fZo?^  1899.  (Articles  at  the  beginning 
of  each  vol.,  by  Cyril  Davenport.) 

Bauchart. — See  Quen tin -Bau chart. 

Beraldi,  H.— La  Reliiu-e  du  XIX^  Siecle.     London,  1895-97. 

Bernard,  A.  J.— G.  Tory.     Paris,  1857. 

BiCKELL,  L.— Bucheinbande  des  XV.  bis  XVIII.  Jahrhunderts  aus 
hessischen  Bibliotheken.     Leipzig,  1892. 

Bosquet,  E. — La  Reliure.     Paris,  1894. 

BoL'CHOT,  H. — De  la  Reliure.     Paris,  1891. 

T.B.  ^ 


242    THE  BOOK:   ITS  HISTORY   AND   DEA^ELOPMENT. 

BoucnoT,  H. — Le  Livre.     Paris,  188G. 

BoucHOT,  H. — Les  reliures  d'Art  a  la  Bibliotheque  Nationale. 
Paris,  1888. 

Brassingtox,  W.  S.— Historic  bindings  in  the  Bodleian  Library. 
London,  1891. 

Brunet,  C.  G. — Etudes  sm-  la  reliure  des  Livres.  Bordeaux, 
1891. 

Burlington  Fine  Arts  Club. —Illustrated  Catalogue  of 
Bookbindings.     London,  1891. 

CuNDALL,  J. — Bookbindings  Ancient  and  Modern.     Lo7idon,  1891. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Cantor  Lectures  on  Decorative  Bookbindings. 
London,  1898. 

Davenport,  Cyril.— Bagford's  Notes  on  Bookbinding.  London. 
1894. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Life  of  Samuel  Mearne.     ('liicatjo,  1907. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Life  of  Thos.  Berthelet.     Chicuyo,  1901. 

Davenport,  Cyril. — Eoyal  English  Bookbindings.     London,  1896. 

Derome,  L. — La  Reliure  de  Luxe.     Paris,  1888. 

Fletcher,  W.  Y. — Bookbindings  in  France.     London,  1894. 

Fletcher,  W.  Y. — English  Bookbindings  in  the  British  Museum. 
London,  1895. 

Fletcher,  W.  Y. — Foreign  Bookbindings  in  the  British  Museum. 
London,  1896. 

Fournier,  E. — L'Art  de  la  Reliure  en  France.     Paris,  1SS8. 

Gruel,  L. — Conference  sur  la  Reliure  et  la  Dorure  des  Livres. 
Paris,  1896. 

Gritel,  L. — Manuel  de  I'Amateur  de  Reliures.     Paris,  1887. 

GuiGARD. — Armorial  du  Bibliophile.     Paris,  1890. 

Hoe,  E. — One  hundred  and  seventy-two  historic  bookbindings  from 
the  Library  of  Robert  Hoe.     New  York,  1895. 

Holmes,  R.  R. — Specimens  of  Bookbindings  from  the  Royal  Library, 
Windsor  Castle.     London,  1893. 

HORNE,  H.  p.— The  Bindings  of  Books.     London,  1894. 

Matthews,  J.  B.— Bookbindings  Old  and  New.     London,  1896. 

Michel,  M.— La  Reliure  Pranfaise.     Paris,  1881. 

Prideaux,  S.  T.— Bookbinders  and  their  Craft.     London,  1903. 

Prideaux,  S.  T.— Historical  Sketch  of  Bookbinding.  London, 
1893. 

Quentin-Bauchart,  E. — Les  Femmes  Bibliophiles  de  France, 
XVI«,  XVII«.  et  XVIIP.  Siecles.     Paris,  1886. 


ORN.\JtrENTATION  WITH  GOLD.  243 

Thoin.v^,  E. — Les  Eelieurs  Fi-an9ais.     Paris,  1893. 

UzANXE,  0. — L'Art  dans  la  Decoration  Exterieure  des  Livres  eu 
France.     Part's,  1898. 

UzANNE,  O. — La  Reliure  Moderne.     Paris,  1887. 

Wheatley,  H.  B. — Remarkable  Bindings  in  the  Britisli  Museum. — 
London,  1889. 


K   2 


INDEX. 


Abacus,  the,  12 

Account  book  binding,  157 

Ackermann,  publisher,  129 

iEsop's  Fables,  1665. ..124 

"AEIO  U,"  197 

African  symboUc  messages,  10 

Alcuin  of  York,  19 

Alianiet,  Une  engraver,  122 

Aiken,  H.,  artist,  124 

"  All  -  over  "    style     of    binding, 

223 
All     Saints'     Church,    Hereford, 

chained  library  at,  164 
AUanson       and       Sears,       wood 

engravers,  116 
AJlen,  D.,  line  engraver,  120 
Almanacks   cut   on   wood,   bone, 

etc.,  7 
American  loggers'  marks,  9 

wampums,  13 
Amulets,  4 

Aniline  dyes  for  leather,  180 
Anne   BolejTi's  New  Testament, 

144 
Anne  de  Felbrigge,  embroidress, 

151 
Annis,    W.,   mezzotint   engraver, 

128 
Aquatints,  128 
Arabic  knot,  the,  208 

panel  stamps,  the,  59 


Arabic  style  of  binding,  the,  55 
Armagh,  satchel  of  the  book  of, 

50 
Armytage,   J.   C,  line   engraver, 

121 
Ars  Moriendi,  90 
Art  canvas  bindings,  156 
'  Ashburnham,  Lord,  189 
Assyrian  bricks  and  cylinders,  85 
Astle,  T.,  keeper  of  the  records  in 

the  Tower  of  London,  189 
Avril,  P.,  artist,  138 
Ayres,  J.,  caligraphist,  118 
Ayrton's    Voyage    Bound    Great 

Britain,  131 
Aze,lme  engraver. 

B. 

"  B "    capital   in    Mainz    Psalter, 

103 
Babylonian  cylinders  and  bricks, 

85 
Backmg,  the,  of  books,  43 
Backs,  flat  and  romided,  42 
Bacon,  F.,  line  engraver,  121 
Badier,  F.,  bookbinder,  239 
Bagford,  J.,  author,  190,  222 
Bail}',  J.,  aquatint  engi'aver,  131 
Baker,  E.  J.,  line  engraver,  121 
Baldwin  II.,  Iving  of  Jerusalem, 

53 


210 


INDEX, 


Bamlcr,  J.,  publisher,  115 
]?ancls  of  bindings,  36,  44 
Bank  note  of  Chinese  paper,  1368 

...64  . 
IBarber's  poles,  16 
Bark  books,  29 
Bartholomaeus'  De  jtroprietatibus 

rent  in,  66 
Bartolozzi,  F.,  etcher,  12;j 
Baskerville,  J.,  printer,  99 
Bateman,    John    and    Abraham, 

binders,  217 
Battas  of  Sumatra  and  symbolic 

messages,  10 
Battledores,  166 
Bauzonnet,  bookbinder,  242 
Bedford,  F.,  bookbinder.  231 
Beneworth,  wood  engraver,  116 
Bennett,  W.  F.,  aquatint  engraver, 

130 
Barnes,  Dame  Juliana's,  Bool-  of 

St.  Albans,  110 
Berthelet,  T.,  printer  and  binder, 

110,  213 
Bertonnier,  line  engraver,  123 
Best,  A.,  wood  engraver,  114 
Bettini's  Mo?i^e  Santo  di  Deo,  119 
Bewick,  T.,  wood  engraver,  108, 

110 
Bihlia  Pauper  urn,  90 
Blaew,  W.  J.,  mechanician,  94 
Blake,  W.,  artist,  109,  124 
Blanchard,  P.,  lithographer,  135 
Blazes  on  trees,  9 
BUnd  tooUng  on  bindings,  182 
Bloc,  bookbinder,  192 
Block  books,  89 
Boards  of  books,  41 
Bollcaert,  bookbinder,  192 
Bone,  markings  on,  1,  9 
Book  edges,  143 
Bosse,  A.,  etcher,  125 


Bosse,  L.,  line  engraver,  122 
liosses  on  mediaeval  books,  45 
Boule,  A.,  bookbinder,  192 
Boydell,  publisher,  129 
Boydells'  Picturesque  Scenery  in 

Norway,  130 
Boyet,  L.  A.,  bookbinder,  240 
Brandard,  11.,  line  engraver,  121 
Brant's  Narrensvliiff,  115 
Breviere,  H.  L.,  wood  engraver, 

114 
Brim  stocks,  7 
"  Britannia  "  watermai'k,  71 
Buck,  Thomas  and  John,  printers 

and  binders,  154,  220 
Buckingham,  Marquis  of,  189 
Buckram  bindings,  156 
"Bull's  Head"  watermark,  69 
Burgkmeier,  H.,  artist,  116 
Burne-Jones,  Sir  E.,  artist,  113 
Bylaert,  J.,  artist,  125 
Byrthe  of  Manhind,  119 
Byzantine  bindings,  46 
diptychs,  22 


Calf  leather,  171 

Callot,  etcher,  125 

Cambridge  bindings,  191 

Cameo  stamps,  208 

"  Canevari  "  stamps,  208 

Canvas  bindings,  151 

Caj)e,  bookbinder,  242 

"  Cai'acteres  de  civilite,"  97 

Cardinal's  hat,  12 

Carolingian  Minuscules,  20 

Cartwright,  T.,  aquatint  engi-a^-er, 

131 
Caslon,  AV.,  printer,  9^ 
Casting  of  type,  the,  92 
Cathaeh,  of  the  O'Donnells.  the,  50 
Cattermole,  artist,  132,  134 


INDEX. 


247 


Caxton's  bindings,  189 

Fifteen  Oes,  106 

,,        Myrrotir  of  the  Worlde, 
108,  109 
Cecil,     Lord     Bvu'leigh's,      book 

stamp,  216 
Cecil,  line  engraver,  120 
Cellarius'  Album  Amicorum,  158 
Cellulose  used  in  paper,  79 
"  Chain  "  lines  on  paper.  73 
Chained  books,  163 
Chambolle,  bookbinder,  242 
Chamois  leather,  176 
Charlemagne's  gospels,  54 

,,  interest  in  writing, 

19 
Charles    II.,    portrait     on    book 

edges,  147 
Charlet,  lithographer,  133 
Chauveau,  F.,  line  engraver,  122 
Cheap  paper,  77 
Cliemical  wood  pulp.  79 
Cheret,  lithographer,  133 
Chevalier,  W.,  line  engraver,  121 
Chiftlart,  line  engraver,  123 
China  clay  in  paper,  80 
Chinese  books  of  Jade,  5 

,,        colour  blocks,  104 

,,        paper,  63 

,,       types  of  porcelain,  86 

,,        woodcuts,  103 
Choffard,  P.,  line  engraver,  122, 

125 
Christ,  arms  of,  196 
Clasps  on  mediaeval  books,  44 
Clay- laden  papers,  80 
Clennell,  L.,  wood  engraver.  111 
Clint,  G.,  mezzotint  engraver,  128 
Clog  almanacks,  7 
Cloth  bindings,  155 
Cobden-Sanderson,    T.    J.,  book- 
binder, 231 


Cochmeal  Aye  for  leather,  222 
Cockerell,  D.,  bookbinder,  231 
Codex  Alexandrinus,  102 
Cole,  T.,  wood  engraver.  111 
CoUett,  M.,  bookbmder,  153 
Collodion   as   a   preservative   for 

Persian  bindmgs,  59 
Colonna's  Hyj^nerotomachia 

Pollphili,  105 
Colour  on  block  books,  90 
Coloiu'ed  printing  papers,  73 
Combe's    History   of    the   River 
Thames,  130 
Tour  of  Dr.  Syntax,  130 
Commonwealth  book  stamp,  221 
Constable,  J.,  artist,  128 
Consular  diptj'chs,  23 
Cook,  H.,  stipple  engraver,  125 
Cooper,  J.,  wood  engraver,  112 
Coptic     binding     of    the    eighth 

century,  182 
Corbould,  G.,  line  engraver,  121 
Corean  paper,  65 
Coronation  of  George  IV.,  131 
Coster,  L.  J.,  printer,  90 
Costeriana,  90 

"  Cottage,"  style  of  binding,  222 
Cousins,  J.,  line  engraver,  121 
Cow-hide  for  bindings,  172 
"  Crown  "  watermark,  70 
Cruickshank,  G.,  artist,  124 
"  Crushed  "  morocco,  177 
Cuirbouilli,  50 
Cumdachs,  48—50 
Cuneiform  inscriptions,  3 
Cuj)  markings  on  rocks,  2,  3 
Curiously-shaped  books,  76 
Cut  leather  work,  197 
Cyhnders   engraved    for    making 
designs       ua       book 
covers,  203 
,,  for  printing  presses,  95 


248 


INDEX. 


D. 

Dalzikls,    the,   wood    engravers, 

112 
Dambrun,  J.,  line  engraver,  122 
Daniel,  W.,  aquatint  engraver,  131 
Dated  binding,  1475...  199 
Daughters  of  Louis  XV.,  bindings 

made  for,  237 
Daumier,  H.,  lithographer,  133 
Davenport,  S.,  line  engraver,  121 
Dawe,    H.,    mezzotint    engraver, 

128 
Day,  J.,  printer,  213 
Dean,  stipple  engraver,  125 
De  Coverly,  R.,  bookbinder,  237 
Deer-skin  bindings,  189 
Delacroix,  E.,  artist,  133 
De   Launay,    R.,    line    engraver, 

120,  123 
"  De  I'Etoile,"  French  order,  236 
Delignon,  J.  L.,  line  engraver,  122 
De  Longueil,  line  engraver,  122 
Delvaux,  line  engraver,  122 
"  Dentelle  "  bindings,  240 
"  Dentelles  a  I'oiseau,"  242 
Derome  le  Jeune,  bookbinder,  241 
De  Sauty,  A.,  bookbinder,  231 
De  Thou,  J.  A.,  book  collector, 

236 
Deveria,  A.,  lithographer,  133 
De  Villiers,  line  engraver,  122 
Diamond  engraved,  5 
Diane  de  Poictiers,  bindings  made 
for,  234 
,,  edges    of    her 

books,  145 
,,  faience,  86 

Dimma's  book,  50 
Diptychs,  20 
Donatus'  grammars,  91 
Double  board  bindings,  55,  214 
Doublures  by  R.  Payne,  228 


Doyle,  etcher,  124 
Druet,  line  engraver,  119 
Du  Bosc,  line  engraver,  120 
Duclos,  H.  J.,  line  engraver,  122 
Dudley,    R.,    Earl    of    Leicester, 

book  stamp,  216 
Duff,  G.,  author,  187 
Du  Maurier,  G.,  artist,  113 
Dunchad,  Irish  binder,  49 
Dunkarton,  R.,  mezzotint  engra- 
ver, 127,  128 
Duodecimos,  75 
Dupont,  H.,  line  engraver,  123 
Dupreal,  line  engraver,  122 
Diirer,  A.,  artist,  115 
Durham  bindings,  185 
Duru,  bookbinder,  242 
Dutch  printing,  92 

E. 

Easter  Island  inscriptions,  9 
Eastling,  J.  C,  mezzotint  engra- 
ver, 128 
Ecclesiastical  diptychs,  24 
Edwards,  J.,  bookbinder,  147, 171, 
201,  202 
,,         J.  C,  line  engraver,  121 
Edj',    J.  W.,    aquatint    engraver, 

130 
Egerton     of     Tatton,    Earl,    his 

silver  horn  book,  166 
Egyptian   mummy   cloth    paper, 
63 
,,  pap3'rus  rolls,  26 

Eisen,  C,  artist,  122 
Eliot  and  Chapman,  bookbinders, 

225 
Elizabeth,     Queen,    embroidered 
books,  152 
,,  golden  book, 

160 


INDEX. 


249 


Elizabeth,  Queen,    velvet  books, 

151 
Ellis,  aquatint  engraver,  130 
Elstrack,  E.,  line  engraver,  119 
Elyot's  Image  of  Governance,  170 
Embroidered  books,  150 
Enamelled  bindings,  47,  162 
End  papers,  157,  229 
Engleheart,  F.  C.  and  T.  S.,  line 

engravers,  120 
English  blind  tooled  bindings,  184 
,,       coronation  book,  188 
,,       panel  stamped  bindings, 

193 
,,       paper,  66 

,,       psalter     of     the    twelfth 
century,  187 
Engraved  metal  blocks,  107 
Engraving  on  wood,  106 
Etching,  123 

,,  soft  ground,  124 

"  Etruscan  "  bindings,  201 
European  early  paper,  65 
Evangelistic     emblems     on     the 
cover  of  the  Molaise    gosjjels, 
50 
Eve,  C,  bookbinder,  236 
N.,  „  236 

Evelyn's  Sculptura,  127 
Exchequer  tallies,  8 


F. 


Faber,  mezzotint  engraver,  127 
"  Fanfare  "  bindings,  236 
Fantin-Latour,  lithographer,  133 
Fashion  plates  in  aquatint,  131 
Fazakerl}-,  bookbinder,  231 
Ferrar,  N.,  of  Little  Gidding,  153 
Ficquet,  line  engraver,  122 
Fielding,   T.  H.,  aquatint  engra- 
ver, 131 


Filigree  bindings,  161 

Finden,     W.,    line     and     stipple 

engraver,  120,  125 
Finiguerra,  M,,  artist,  117 
Fischer,  C,  lithographer,  135 
Fish-skin  bindings,  179 
Fishmg-rod  sign,  16 
Flagellation  of  Christ,  engraving, 

116 
Fletcher,  painter  of  book  edges, 

146 
"  Flong,"  paper  pulp,  96 
Folios,  74 

Folkard,  wood  engraver,  112 
"  Foolscap  "  watermark,  71 
Forage  decoration,  143,  146 
Forels  for  books,  50 
Foster,  B.,  artist,  113 
Foulquier,  V.,  line  engraver,  123 
Fournier,  P.  E.,  type  founder,  98 
Fragonard,  J.  H.,  artist,  122 
Fraudulent  bindings,  211 
Frederick     of     Austria,     binding 

made  for,  198 
French  blind  tooled  bindings,  191 
Fr3%  W.,  line  engraver,  121 
Fust,  J.,  printer,  91 

G. 

Galvanic  battery  used  in  stereo- 
typing, 96 

Gandara,  lithographer,  133 

Garuda  stones,  4 

Gaucher,  C.  S.,  line  engraver,  122 

Gauffring  of  book  edges,  144 

Gaultier,  L.,  line  engraver,  122 

Gavarni,  artist,  115,  133 

Gemdlde  Galerie  des  K.  Miiseuvis 
in  Berlin,  135 

Gericault,  lithographer,  133 

German  blind  tooled  bindings,  198 


250 


INDEX. 


German  book  edges,  145 

,,        cut  leather  woi-k,  197 
,,        panel  stamps,  200 
Gibson,  J.,  bookbinder,  216 
Gigoux,  J.,  lithograplier,  133 
Gillede,  J.,  bookbinder,  239 
Girardet,  line  engraver,  123 
Girolaiuo  della  Robbia,  artist,  88 
Goat  leather,  176 
"Goddess   of    Mercy,"  woodcut, 

103 
Godfrey,  G.,  bookbinder,  191,  192 
Gold  beaters'  sign,  16 
Gold  tooling  in  leather,  206 
,,  on  velvet,  154 

Golden  bindings,  159 
Goldsmith's  Vicar  of  Wakefield, 

130 
Goodall,  E.,  line  engraver,  120 
Goodyear,  F.  and  J.,  line  engra- 
vers, 120 
Gould,  J.,  naturalist,  134 
Goj^a,  F.,  artist,  135 
Grace,  J.,  ti^aveller,  49 
Gray,  wood  engraver,  112 
Greatbach,  W.,  line  engraver,  121 
Greek  engraved  gems,  5 
Green,  wood  engraver,  112 
Gregory  the  Great,  Poj^e,  51 
Greville,   Charles,   patron  of  art, 

129 
Griggs,  W.,  chromo-lithographer, 

134 
Grignion,  line  engraver,  120 
Groher,  W.,bindmgs  made  for,  209 
Grover,  line  engraver,  120 
Guerin,  P.,  lithographer,  133 
Guerrero,  A.,  lithographer,  135 
Guild  of  Bookbinders  in  France, 

232 
Gutenberg,  J.,  printer,  91 
Gypsies'  hieroglyphics,  17 


H. 


Haghe,  L.,  lithographer,  134 
Hahn,  U.,  printer,  105 
Halbon,  L.,  line  engraver,  122 
Half  bindings,  44 
Half-tone  blocks,  136 
,,         process,  79 
Ham  sign,  16 
"  Hand  "  watermark,  70 
Hard  wood  for  engraving,  114 
Harding,  J.  1).,  lithographer,  134 
Ilarland,  J.,  author,  8 
"  Harleian  "  bindings,  227 
Harley,  R.,  Earl  of  Oxford,  227 
Harvey,  W.,  wood  engraver,  106, 

111 
Hassell,  aquatint  engraver,  130 
Hauber,  J.,  lithographer,  134 
Havell,  D.,  aquatint  engraver,  131 
Haydon,  B.  R.,  artist.  111 
Headbands,  40,  56 
Heath,  C.  and  J.,  line  engravers, 
121 
„       Ch.,  publisher,  120 
Heliogravure,  136 
Henri  II.,  bindings  made  for,  86, 
145,  233 
„  faience,  86 

Henry  III.,  bindings  made  for,  235 
Henry  VII.,  bmdings  made  for,  148 
Henry  VIII.,  bindings  made  for, 

150,  159,  194 
Henry,  Prince  of  Wales,  bmdings 

made  for,  216 
Heraldry  on  bindings,  215 
Hereford       Cathedral,       chained 

library  at,  164 
Hering,  C,  bookbinder,  230 
Heriot,  G.,  goldsmith,  160 
Herodius,  ivory  carver,  54 
Hewitt,  Samuel,  etcher,  124 


INDEX. 


251 


Hi  berno- Saxon  writing,  19 
Hieratic  writing,  18 
Hiroshige,  artist,  105 
Hodges'  Select  Views  in  India, 

130 
Hodgetts,  T.,  mezzotint  engraver, 

128 
Hodgkin"s  Bariora,  92 
Hokusai,  artist,  105 
Holbein,  artist,  110 
Hole,  line  engraver,  120 
HoU,  W.,  stipple  engraver,  125 
Hollar,  W.,  etcher,  124 
Hollis,  G.,  line  engraver,  121 
Hollow  backs,  38 
Hop  tallies,  8 

Horse  of  the  fifteenth  century,  107 
Horn  books,  165 

Houston,  mezzotint  engraver,  127 
HuUmandel,     lithographer,     132, 

134 
Human  leather,  180 
Humphreys.    W.,    line   engraver, 

120 
Hunt,  T.,  bookbinder,  191 
Hypnerotomachia  Polipliili,  105 


Ideographs,  16,  17 
Illustrations  in  books,  102,  etc. 
Imitations     of     bindings     by    S. 

Mearne,  226 
Indentures,  9 
Indian  amulets,  4 
Irish  bindings,  48 

,,     book  sabchels,  50 
Iroquois  League  wampum,  14 
Isabey,  J.  B.,  artist,  133 
Italian    book    stamps     used     on 
faience,  87 
wood  engravings,  105 
Ivory  bindings,  47,  53 


Jacksox,    J.  B.,   wood   engraver, 

112 
Jacquemart,  J.,  etcher,  125 
Jade  books,  5 
James  I.,  heraldry  of,  218 

.,  BaviXiKov  Aupov,  160 

Japanese  colour  blocks,  105 
,,         paper,  65 
,,         wood  blocks,  104 
Jenkinson,  stipple  engi-aver,  125 
Jentzen,  F.,  hthographer,  135 
Jewish  taleth,  12 
Joch,  wood  engraver,  116 
Johannot,  line  engraver,  122 
JoUivet,  J.,  lithographer,  135 
Jones'  Plans  of  the  Alhambra,  134 
Jordan,  E.,  artist,  116 
Junius,  A.,  author,  90 


Kalthoeber,  C,  bookbinder,  230 
Kangaroo  leather,  179 
Karabacek,  J.,  Professor,  63 
Katherine    of     Arragon,    Queen, 

bindings  made  for,  195 
Keepsake,  the,  120 
Kernot,  J.  H.,  line  engraver,  121 
Ivnife  for  engraving  soft  wood,  113 
Knight,  C,  stipple  engraver,  125 
Koenig,  prmting  press  maker,  95 
Korean  wood  cuts,  104 
Korin,  artist,  105 
Kretschmar,  E.,   wood  engraver, 

116 
Kristeller,  P.,  author,  106 


La  Costes,  wood  engravers,  114 
"  Laid  "  lines  on  paper,  73 
Landells,  the,  wood  engravers,  112 


252 


INDEX. 


Laut,  R.,  bookbinder,  192 
Lasteyrie,  lithographer,  133 
Latroo's  English  Bor/ue,  124 
Latten,  panel  stamps  cut  in,  196 
Laurentian  library,  164 
Lawson,  C,  artist,  113 
Leathers  used  for  binding,  169 
Le  Blon's  Coloritto,  126 
Leclerc,  S.,  line  engraver,  122 
Lefebre,  line  engraver,  122 
Le  Gascon,  bookbinder,  145,  239 
Leighton,  A.,  bookbinder,  155 

,,         Lord,  artist,  113 
Lelio,  Luci'etio,  of  Treviso,  105 
Le  Mire,  N.,  line  engraver,  122 
Le  Monnier,  J.,  bookbinder,  241 
Le  Prince,  J.  B.,  aquatint  engra- 
ver, 128 
Leroux,  line  engraver,  122 
Levant  morocco,  176 
Lewis  the  Pious,  Emperor,  52 
,,       C,  bookbinder,  230 
,,       F.  C,  mezzotint  engraver, 

128 
,,       T.  C,  line  engraver,  120 
Libri,  Count  G.,  collector,  211 
Lindau  gospels,  binding  of  the,  51 
Line  engraving,  116 
Lingee,  C.  L.,  line  engraver,  122 
Linotype,  the,  machine,  93 
Linton,  W.  J .,  wood  engraver,  112 
Lipton,    T.,   mezzotint  engraver, 

128 
Lithography,  132 
Lithotmt,  132 
Little  Gidding,  153 

,,  bindings  made  at, 

202,  219 
Loggers'  marks,  9 
Lombards  signs,  16 
Longepierre.   Baron  de,  bindings 
made  for,  240 


Lortic,  bookbinder,  242 

Lucas,  D.,  mezzotint  engraver, 
128 

Lucretia,  110 

Lupton,  T.  G.,  mezzotint  en- 
graver, 128 

Lyons  bindings,  214 

M. 

MacColl,  Miss  E.,  bookbinder, 
231 

Mace,  R.,  bookbinder,  192 
Madan,  F.,  author,  18 
Madox,  T.,  historiographer,  189 
Madrazo's       Collection       Litho- 

graphica,  etc.,  135 
Mainz  Psalter,  91,  103 
MaioH,  T.,  collector,  177 
Marbled  calf,  201 

,,        morocco,  237 
,,        i)apers,  158 
Marillier,  J.  P.,  line  engraver,  123 
Marius-Michel,  bookbinder,  242 
Marr,  C,  stipple  engraver,  125 
Marshall,  line  engraver,  120 
Maximilian,  Triumph  of,  116 
Mazarine  Bible,  91 
Mazot,  F.,  line  engraver,  119 
Mearne,  S.,  bookbinder,  146,  221 
Mechanical  wood  pulp  papers,  78 
Medici  coat  of  arms,  16 
Medland,   T.,  aquatint   engraver, 

130 
Meissonnier,  artist,  115 
Mehssenda,  psalter  of,  53 
Menzel,  A.,  artist,  135 
Messe  dag  staves,  7 
Metal  bindings,  52,  159 

,,      blocks  engraved,  107 

,,      inscriptions,  5 
Mezzotints,  126 


INDEX. 


253 


Miles,  E.,  bookbinder,  191 
Millais,  Sir  J.,  artist,  113 
Miller,  W.,  line  engraver,  121 
Mitan,  J.,  line  engi-aver,  121 
Mittenleiter,  J.  M.,  lithographer, 

134 
Mitterer,     H.     J.,    professor     of 

drawing,  133,  134 
Modern  ideographs,  16,  17 
Molaise  gospels,  50 
Monnier,  H.,  lithographer,  133 
Monoline  machine,  the,  93 
Monotj'pe  machme,  the,  93 
Monza,  bindmg  at,  51 
Moreau,  P.,  line  engraver,  119 
Morrell  &  Co.,  bookbmders,  231 
Morocco  leather,  176 
Morris,  W.,  printer,  99 
Mottet,  Hne  engraver,  122 
Moulin,  J.,  bookbinder,  192 
Midready,  artist,  112 
Musgi'ave,  Sir  G.,  collector,  167 
Musulman  amulets,  4 


N. 

Nash's    Mansions    of   England, 

134 
Nayler's,  Sir   G.,  Coronation   of 

George  IV.,  131 
Nesbit,  wood  engraver,  112 
Nicene  Creed  cut  in  silver,  6 
Nicholls    and    Bosse,    wood    en- 
gravers, 116 
Nicholson,  W.,  inventor,  95 
Niedree,  bookbinder,  242 
Niello  work  on  bindings,  161 
Nivet,  wood  engraver,  114 
Norins,  J.,  bookbinder,  192 
Northcote's  Fables,  112 
Notches  cut  in  wood,  6,  7,  8 


Nuremberg,  arms  of,  145 

,,  Chronicle,  106,  115 

Xuzelmann,  wood  engraver,  116 


0. 

Octavos,  75 

O'Donnell's  cathach,  50 

Ogham  inscriptions,  6 

Oiron  ware,  86 

Open  backs,  38 

Openworked  vellum,  202 

Opus  Anglicanum,  151 

Oriental  bindmgs  with  flaps,  59 
,,        palm  leaf  books,  15 
,,        panel  stamps,  59 

Orihons,  29 

Orme's  Tivelve  Vieivs  of  Places  in 
the  Kingdom  of  Mysore,  130 

Osterwald,  G.,  artist,  116 

Oxford  bindings,  191 


Padeloup  le  Jeune,  bookbmder, 

240 
Painted  bindings,  58 
Panel  stamps,  192 
Paper,  62,  66,  73 

pulp,  96 
Papillon,  J.  M.,  wood   engraver, 

112 
Papyrus,  62 

Prisse,  18 
Parchment,  29,  30 
Parker,  J.,  stipple  engraver,  125 
Parr,  Queen  Katherine,    embroi- 

dress,  152 
Paste  boards,  56 
Patas,  J.  B.,  hne  engraver,  122 
Pauquet,  line  engraver,  122 
Payne,  Pi.,  bookbinder,  177,  227 


254 


INDEX. 


Pegs  on  panel  stamps,  196 
Penn,  W.,  and  the  wauipvim  belt, 

14 
Pennant's    Account   of  London, 

124 
Persian  bindings,  58,  59 
Peruvian  records,  11 
Petit,  L.,  line  engraver,  123 
Peupin,  wood  engraver,  116 
Pfeiffer,  stipple  engraver,  126 
Pflanzmann,  J.,  publisher,  115 
Photographic  facsimiles,  98 
Photogravure,  136 
Pierced  vellum,  171 
Pig-skin,  173 
Pigouchet,  printer,  107 
"  Pin-head  "  gramed  morocco,  178 
Pinart,  D.,  bookbinder,  191 
Pine,  J.,  line  engraver,  118 
Pisa's,  E.  de,  Pantheologia,  197 
Pleydenwurff,  W.,  wood  engraver, 

115 
Pointille  engraving,  107 
Polia,  of  Treviso,  105 
Pompeian  diptychs,  20 
Porcelain  types,  86 
Porrett,  wood  engraver,  114 
Portbury,     E.     and    R.    J.,    line 

engravers,  121 
Portraits  in  watermarks,  72 
"  Post  "  watermark,  72 
"  Pot "  watermark,  72 
Prayer  wheels,  27 
Prehistoric  caves,  2 
Prevost,  line  engraver,  122 
Prideaux,    Miss    S.,    bookbinder, 

231 
Prime  staves,  7 
Printing  in  Europe,  90 

,,         on  Babylonian  cylinders 

and  biicks,  85 
,,         press,  93,  95 


Printing  paper  in  colour,  73 

Proctor,  E.,  author,  98 

Prout,  S.,  artist,  120 

Pudsey,  Bishop,  library  of,  185 

Pugillaria,  20 

Pye,  J.,  line  engraver,  120 

Pyne's    History    of    the    Royal 

Besidences,  130 
Pynson,  R.,  bookbinder,  110,  193, 

197 

Q. 

Quartos,  74 
Quaternions,  32,  33 
Quinternions,  31 
Quipus  of  Peru,  11 
Quires,  82 

R. 

Raffet,  artist,  115,  133 
Rag  paper  of  Samarkand,  63 
Eainer,  Archduke,  64 
Eatdolt,  E.,  printer,  105 
Ratisbon,  Irish  monastery  at,  49 
Raynald's   Byrtlie    of  Mankind, 

119 
"Rectangular"  style  of  bmding, 

223 
Redon,  O..,  lithographer,  133 
Reeve,  R.,  aquatint  engraver,  130 
Repton's  Shetclies  of  Laitdsca^pe 

Gardening,  130 
Retroussage,  124 
"  Rex  in  iEternum  vive  "  on  book 

edges,  143,  144 
Reynes,  J.,  bookbinder,  192 
Reynolds,   S.  W.,   mezzotint   en- 
graver, 128 
Rhodes,  R.,  line  engraver,  121 
Ribault,  J.  F.,  line  engraver,  123 


INDEX. 


255 


Eichenbach,  J.,  bookbinder,  199 
Eichter,  A.,  artist,  116 
Einaldo  and  Arniida,  112  ' 
Eing  markings,  2,  3 
Eivett-Carnac,  Col.  H.  J.,  3 
Eiviex-e  &  Son,  bookbinders,  231 
Eoan  leather,  175 
Eobins,  H.,  line  engraver,  121 
Eobinson,    H.,    stipple   engraver, 
125 
„  J.  H.,  line  engraver, 

120 
Eoberts'  Holy  Land,  134 
Eoce,  D.,  bookbinder,  192 
Eock  markings,  2 
Eoffet,  E.,  bookbinder,  232 
Rogers',  S.,  Italy  and  Poems,  120 
, ,  Pleasures  of  Memory, 

112 
Rolls,  C,  line  engraver,  120 
Eolt's   Lives   of  the   Beformers, 

127 
Eoman  diptych  s,  20 
,,        engraved  gems,  5 
,,        name  brands,  5 
Eomney,  Lord,  160 
Rood,  T.,  bookbmder,  191 
Rosaries,  12 
Rosetta  stone,  3 
Rossetti,  D.  G.,  artist,  113 
Rouget,  wood  engraver,  114 
Rough  side  of  calf  leather,  202 
Rounded  backs  of  books,  43 
Roux,  wood  engraver,  114 
Rowlandson,  artist,  130 
Roj'al  Irish  Academy,  49 
Ruette,  M.,  bookbinder,  240 
Rune  staves,  7 
Runic  inscriptions,  6 
Rupert,     Prince,    mezzotint     en- 
graver, 127 
Russia  leather,  172 


S. 


Saddliarmapundarlka  Sutra,  103 
St.  Christopher,  woodcut,  89 
St.  Cuthbert's  gospels,  185 
St.  Esprit,  French  order  of  the, 

236 
St.    John    Latran,     bookbinders' 

guild,  232 
St.  Maurice  D'Agaune,  church  of 

55 
St.  Michel,  French  order  of,  236 
St.  Porchau-e,  Faience  de,  87 
St.  Y/allberg,  church  of,  164 
Samarkand,  paper  made  at,  63    . 
Sandby,    P.,     aquatint    engraver, 

129 
Sandys,  F.,  artist,  113 
Sangorsky,  F.,  bookbinder,  231 
Sangster,  S.,  line  engraver,  121 
Satchels  for  books,  50 
Satin  bindings,  152 

,,      printing  on,  73 
Saune,  J.,  Ime  engraver,  122 
Savai-t,  P.,  line  engraver,  123 
"  Sawn  in  "  backs,  39 
Say,  W.,  mezzotint  engraver,  128 
Schoffer,  P.,  printer,  91 
Schrodter,  A.,  artist,  116 
Scotin,  line  engraver,  120 
Scott,  J.  L.,  of  theBritish  Museum, 

144 
Scrive  knife,  113 
Sea  lion  leather,  179 
Seal  leather,  179 
Sears,  wood  engraver,  114 
Semis,  215,  218 
Sen,  tablet  of,  4 
Send  hieroglyphic,  18 
Senefelder,  A.,  hthographer,  132 
Sewing  frames  for  bmders,  34 
Sewing  of  books,  the,  35 


256 


INDEX. 


Sharpe,  J.,  line  engraver,  121 

Sheep  leather,  174 

Shot  silk  effect  in  half-tone  prints, 

137 
Siberch,  J.,  bookbinder,  191 
Siegen,    L.    von,    mezzotint    en- 
graver, 126 
"  Signatures  "   in   printed  books, 

73 
Silk  bindings,  152,  156 
,,    paper,  62 
,,   printing  on,  73 
Silver  bindings,  161 
Simounet,  J.    B.,   line   engraver, 

122 
Simpson,  Sir  J.,  antiquary,  3 
Sion,  in  the  Rhone  valley,  55 
"  Six  Nations  "  wampum,  13 
Sizes  of  printed  books,  76 
"  Skiver"  leather,  175 
Small  metal  bindings,  161 
Smith,   D.    and  W.   R.,  line  en- 
gravers, 120 

,,         O.,  wood  engraver,  114 
Smooth  morocco,  177 
Societe  des  Amis  des  Livres,  137 
Society    of  Arts    Committee   on 

Paper,  1898...  77 
Soft  wood  engravings,  113 
Soyer,  S.,  wood  engraver,  114 
Speculum  Humance  Salvationis, 

90 
Spierinck,  N.,  bookbinder,  191 
Split  sheep-skin,  175 
Sprinkled  calf,  201 
Stabbed  bindings,  31 
Stadler,  J.  C,  aquatint  engraver, 

130 
Staff"ordshire  clog  almanacks,  7 
Staggemeier,  bookbinder,  234 
Stanfield,  artist,  134 
Stanhope,  C,  Earl,  94 


"  Star  "  watermark,  65 

Steam  printing  press,  1814... 95 

Steel  engraving,  122 

Stencil  plates  for  colouring  prints, 

108 
Stephanoff',  F.  and  J.,  artists,  131 
Stereotyping,  96 
Stipple  engraving,  125 
Stothard,  artist,  120 
Stowe  House,  librar}'  at,  189 

,,       missal,  48 
"  Straight  grained"  morocco,  178 
Sturt,  J.,  line  engraver,  118 
Styles  for  writing  on  wax,  20,  21 
Sullivan,  Sir  E.,  bookbinder,  231 
Sulphuric  acid  in  leather,  180 
Sumatran  bark  books,  29 
,,         calendars,  7 
,,         symbolic  messages,  10 
Sutcliffe,  G.,  bookbinder,  231 
Sutherland,  T.,  aquatint  engraver, 

130,  131 
Swain,  wood  engraver,  112 
Symbolic  messages,  10 

signs  on  rocks,  3 

T. 

Taleth  fringes,  11 

Talismans,  5 

Tallies,  5 

Tasselled  ecclesiastical  hats,  13 

Tasso's  Gerusalemme  Liber ata, 
112 

Tate,  J.,  printer,  66 

Taylor's,  I.,  History  of  the 
Alphabet,  18 

Taylor,  W.  D.,  line  engraver,  121 

Test  for  clay  paper,  82 

Theodelenda,  Queen  of  the  Lom- 
bards, 51 

Thibetan  prayer  wheels,  27 

Thiebault,  wood  engraver,  114 


INDEX. 


257 


Thompson,  Sir  E.  M.,  Manual  of 
Greek   and  Roman 
Palceography,  18 
,,  J.,  wood  engraver,  112 

Thouvenin,  bookbinder,  242 
Three-colour  process,  137 
Tillard,  J.  B.,  hne  engraver,  122 
The    Times  of    20th    November, 

1814.. .95 
Title-page  engraved  on  wood,  66 
Torres    Straits,    tallies     used    in 

the,  9 
Tortoiseshell  bindings,  161,  163 
Tory,  G.,  artist,  97,  233 
Tours,  conference  at,  19 
Transparent  vellum,  171,  202 
Trautz,  bookbinder,  242 
Tree  marbled  calf,  201 
Trench  along  the  edges  of  book 

boards,  56 
Triere,  P.,  line  engraver,  122 
Tudor  badges,  191,  195 
Tuerhnckoe,  lithographer,  135 
Turner,  C,  mezzotint    engraver, 
128 
,,       J.  M.  W.,  artist,  120, 127, 
128 
Turrecremata,  Meditations,  105 
Type  casting,  92 
,,     founding  in  England,  99 
,,     metal,  92 
,,     specimen  sheets,  97 

U. 

Utamaro,  K.,  artist,  105 
Uzanne,  O.,  author,  137 

V. 

Vander    Meulen,     lithographer, 

135 
Vangelisty,  stipple  engraver,  126 
A^an  Loo,  lithographer,  135 

T.B. 


Vellum  bindmgs,  36,  169,  202 
pierced,  171,  202 

,,        preparation  of,  30 

,,        printing  on,  73 
rolls,  27,  28 

,,       transparent,  171,  202 
Velvet  bmdings,  149 
Venetian  bindings,  206 
Verard,  A.,  printer,  108 
Vernet,  H.,  artist,  115,  133 
Villa  Dei,  A.  de,  Doctrinale,  91 
Villerey,  line  engraver,  123 
Vogel,  A.,  artist,  116 

W. 

Wagstaffe,  C,  stipple  engraver, 

125 
Walker,  F.,  artist,  113 
Wallis,  H.,  and  R.,  line  engravers, 

120 
Walther,  bookbinder,  230 
Wampum  belts,  13 
Warren,  C,  line  engraver,  121 
Watermarks,  64,  68 
Weale,  W.  H.  J.,  author,  183 
Webber's    Views    in    the    South 

Seas,  130 
Whimper,  wood  engraver,  112 
Whistler,  J.  M.,  artist,  132 
Whitaker,  J.,  bookbinder,  201 
"White  line"  engraving,  110 
Whymper,  J.  W.,  wood  engraver, 

112 
Wick  rotary  type-casting  machine, 

92 
Wier,  R.,  bookbinder,  229 
Wiesner,  J.,  Professor,  63 
Willett,  lithographer,  133 
Williams,  M.  A.,  S.,  and  T.,  wood 
engravers,  114 
,,         T.    J.,    line    engraver, 
121 


258 


INDEX. 


Willmore,  T.,  line  engraver,  121 
Wilson,  J.  L.,  bookbinder,  155 
Winiborne        Minster,       chained 

library  at,  164 
Winchester  Domesday  IJook,  185 
AVolilgennith,  M.,  wood  engraver, 

115 
Wood-cut  illustrations,  103 
Wood  pulp  used  for  paper,  77 
Wooden  types,  86,  88 
Woolrich,  MissN.  E.,  bookbinder, 

231 
Wordsworth,  ]\Irs.,  amateur  book- 
binder, 153 


Woven  book,  73 

Wright,  wood  engraver,  112 


Xylographs, 


X. 


Y. 


Young,   J.,   mezzotint   engraver, 
127 

Z. 
Zaehnsdorf,  bookbinder.  231 
Zainer,  G.,  publisher,  115 
Zinc  blocks,  136 


ii 


BRADBUkV,    AGiNEW,    &    CO.    LD.,    PRINTERS,    LONDON   AND   TONBRIDGE. 


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